1856. 


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lest  Spmce  Itrest  Iresliiteriatt  llmli 


PHILADELPHIA. 


OF  PHILADELPHIA. 


1856—^^1881 
QUARTER  CENTURY  ANNIVERSARY 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH 


PASTORATE  OF  REV.  WM.  P.  BREED,  D.D., 

The  First  and  Only  Pastor. 
APRIL    3    and    4,    1881. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

SHERMAN    &    CO,    PRINTERS. 
i88i. 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  view  of  the  approaching  Quarter  Century  Anniversary  of 
the  organization  of  our  church  and  its  coincident  pastorate,  a 
special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  held  at  the  residence 
of  Gustavus  S.  Benson,  Esq.,  to  devise  some  measures  for  the 
appropriate  celebration  of  these  events.  At  this  meeting  all  the 
Trustees  were  present,  and,  after  a  full  interchange  of  opinion,  it 
was  resolved  to  call  a  congregational  meeting  of  the  church  for 
further  consideration  of  the  matter,  and  final  decision  as  to  what 
action  should  be  taken  in  the  same. 

This  congregational  meeting  was  large  and  enthusiastic,  and 
resulted  in  the  appointment  of  the  following  committees  by  the 
chairman,  Gustavus  S.  Benson,  Esq.,  to  carry  out  the  unanimous 
desire  of  the  congregation  that  the  coming  Anniversary  should  be 
appropriately  celebrated  and  a  testimonial  of  affection  presented  to 
the  Pastor. 

GEISTERAL  COMMITTEE: 
K.  DALE  BENSON,  Chairman. 

FINANCE  COMMITTEE: 
Charles  O.  Abbey,  Miss  Ella  McCord, 

Mrs.  Joseph  Storm  Patterson,        W.  Atlee  Burpee, 
Louis  F.  Benson. 

COMMITTEE  ON  DECORATION  OF  CHURCH: 
Geo.  B.  Collier,  James  Laws,  M.D., 

Robert  Scott,  Mrs.  E.  Smith  Kelly, 

Miss  Mary  Sherreed. 

RECEPTION  COMMITTEE: 
Henry  D.  Sherrerd,  J.  Ealston  Grant, 

Harold  A.  Freeman,  Severo  M.  Prevost, 

James  Johnston. 


MUSIC  COMMITTEE: 
Joseph  De  F.  Junkin,  Miss  Louise  W.  Juxkix, 

Charles  B.  Grant,  James  Aull, 

Miss  Scott. 


SPEAKERS'  COMMITTEE  : 

Edavarb  p.  Borden,  T>.  Flavel  Woods,  iSI.D., 

James  Spear,  J.  IIilborne  West,  M.D., 

Charles  S.  Boyd. 

PKESS,  ETC.,  COMMITTEE: 

Robert  Stewart  Davis,  Chairman,    Frank  K.  Hipple, 
Jos.  Storm  Patterson. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE: 

E.  Dale  Benson,  Chairman,  George  B.  Collier, 

Joseph  De  F.  Junkin,  Secretary,        Henry  D.  Sherrerd, 
Chas.  O.  Abbey,  Treasurer,  Edward  P.  Borden. 

How  well  these  several  committees  and  those  W'hose  services 
they  enlisted  performed  the  work  assigned  them  this  pamphlet 
abundantly  testifies,  as  well  as  the  pleasant  memories  we  all  have 
of  everything  connected  with  the  celebration.  It  was  the  uni- 
versal opinion  that  all  was  so  w^ell  done  nothing  could  have  been 
better  done.  The  sermons,  the  addresses,  the  guests,  the  audi- 
ences, the  music,  the  decorationsj  and  the  programmes — nothing 
more  could  have  been  desired  to  complete  the  happiness  of  the 
occasion. 

For  the  services  of  Sunday  our  handsome  church  had  assumed 
an  aspect  of  holiday  freshness  and  beauty,  in  appropriate  taste  to 
the  joyful  event  which  it  commemorated.  Bright  in  vesture  of 
the  greenest  foliage,  adorned  with  blooming  plants  and  rare 
exotics,  tlie  auditorium  looked  like  a  Paradise  in  miniature — as 
indeed  it  was. 

The  pulpit,  with  its  desk  and  gas  standards  draped  in  smilax, 
was-  beautifully  outlined  in  living  flowers.     In  the  background 


gracefully  waved  the  pendant  leaves  of  the  rare  Palm  Areca 
Lutescens.  On  either  side  of  the  sacred  desk  were  Sago,  Date, 
and  Leaf  Palms,  flanked  by  Camellia  Japonicas  of  several  varie- 
ties, Calla  Lilies,  Stock  Jellies,  Cinerarias,  White  Hydrangeas, 
and  Pelargoniums;  and  to  complete  this  picture  of  blooming 
loveliness,  Azaleas  of  every  hue,  from  clearest  white  to  deep  ma- 
roon, stood  forth  on  the  lower  platform  in  clustering  blossoms, 
rich  and  full,  hiding  the  rostrum  in  an  embankment  of  flowers. 
Nor  was  this  all.  Along  the  gallery  fronts,  from  which  waved 
two  Presbyterian  banners,  laurel  leaves,  thickly  linked,  were  hung 
in  pretty  festoons  and  wreaths,  while  here  and  there  depended 
rustic  baskets  filled  with  Spirea  Japonica,  Authericum,  Palms,  and 
miscellaneous  plants. 

Such  were  the  lovely  and  artistic  decorations  for  the  services  of 
Sunday.  For  the  congregational  celebration  on  the  following 
evening  additional  flowers  and  plants  were  grouped  about  the 
pulpit,  while  above  it  was  raised  in  blazing  letters  of  light,  with 
glittering  star,  the  legend : 

GREETING 

OUR    FIRST   AND    ONLY 

1856       PASTOR.       1881 

With  this  brief  introduction  we  submit  the  following  pages. 
In  them  will  be  found  a  complete  account  of  all  the  proceedings 
of  Sunday  and  Monday,  April  3d  and  4th — days  forever  memor- 
able in  the  history  of  our  happy  and  prosperous  church. 

The  Editor. 


lOlIIIi  SllflOli, 


-"-"'i^-^s^^^-^'iz'z^jyt-^ a 


10.80  O'CLOCK. 

"LIFT   UP   YOUR    HEADS,    O    YE   GATES." 
JOHN  L.  HOPKINS. 

BY  THE  PASTOE. 


OUR    ZION. 


Isaiah  33 :  20. — "  Look  upon  Zion,  the  city  of  om-  solemnities." 

The  name  Zion,  in  itself  not  unmusical,  lias,  through  association, 
acquired  for  the  Christian  ear  an  exquisite  sweetness.  There  is  in 
it  a  sunny  radiance  which  well  corresponds  with  its  literal  signifi- 
cation.    It  means  the  "Sunny  Mount." 

Zion  was  the  highest  of  the  hills  encompassed  by  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem.  The  pinnacles  of  palace  and  tower  upon  its  top  caught 
the  first  rays  of  the  sun  as  tliey  came  streaming  over  the  crest  of 
Olivet  on  the  east,  and  clung  to  his  last  rays  as  he  sank  out  of 
sight  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  in  the  west.  For  a  long 
period  Zion  was  the  citadel  of  Jerusalem.  After  its  capture  from 
the  Jebusites  it  became  "The  City  of  David."  And  because  it 
was  high,  and  because  it  was  strong,  and  because  it  was  sunny,  its 
name  came  gradually  to  be  applied  to  the  Church  of  God.  God 
himself  thus  applies  it  when  he  says:  "Yet  have  I  set  my  king 
upon  my  holy  hill  of  Zion."  This  king  is  the  Messiah,  and  the 
hill  is  the  Church  on  which  the  Messiah  sits  as  prophet,  priest, 
and  king. 

And  surely  the  Church  is  a  mount,  a  sunny  mount,  illumined, 
the  twenty-four  hours  round,  with  the  smile  of  a  reconciled  God; 
its  clefts  "a  hiding-place  from  the  wind,  a  covert  from  the  tem- 
pest;" the  source  of  "  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry  place,  and  the  shadow 
of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land." 

But  if  the  whole  Church  is  a  Zion,  so  is  each  particular  church. 
There  was  a  Zion  at  Antioch,  a  Zion  at  Thessalonica,  a  Zion  in 
ancient  Philadelphia,  and,  thanks  to  God,  the  pinnacles  of  many 
a  Zion  glimmer  in  this  Philadelphia  Avhere  we  dwell,  with  one  of 
which  we  are  now  assembled. 

Our  Zion  is  a  city.     It  has  its  Mayor,  the  pastor;  its  Board  of 


10  HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 

Aldermen,  its  eldermen,  the  Euling  Elders ;  its  laws,  duties,  and 
immunities. 

It  is  a  "City  of  Solemnities."  Every  true  citizen  within  its 
walls  has  been  under  the  hand  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  by  him  en- 
dowed with  a  new  life — the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man.  Here 
the  sinner  has  believed.  Here  the  prodigal  has  said :  "  I  will  arise 
and  go  to  my  father."  Here  the  sacramental  oath  has  been  taken, 
and  here  for  nearly  one  hundred  times  the  communion  table  has 
been  spread,  and  hundreds  have  vowed  themselves  away  forever 
to  their  God  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

Yes,  this  is  a  city,  a  "City  of  Solemnities,"  and  we  are  here  at 
this  time  to  look  upon  it,  marked  as  it  is  by  the  footfall  and  finger- 
touch  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  experience  and  service. 

How  like  a  dream  when  one  awaketh  is  a  quarter  of  a  century! 
It  seems  but  as  yesterday  when  I  first  looked  into  the  doors  of  this 
edifice— the  floor  covered  with  rubbish;  the  galleries  nought  but 
rough  timbers  projecting  from  the  walls  and  supported  by  other 
upright  timbers  rough  as  they;  the  pulpit  a  huge  unsightly  mass 
of  unplaned  lumber;  no  stained  windows;  no  soft,  bright  frescos 
on  walls  or  ceiling. 

In  our  Presbyterian  pulpits  in  this  city  twenty-five  years  ago 
were  Albert  Barnes  in  the  venerable  First  Church  on  Washington 
Square;  Kev.  Charles  W.  Shields  in  the  Second  Church;  Dr. 
Thomas  Brainard  in  the  "Old  Pine"  Street  Church;  Dr.  Lewis 
Cheeseman  in  the  Fourth  Church ;  Dr.  Charles  AVadsworth  in  the 
Arch  Street  Church;  Dr.  Joseph  H.  Jones  in  the  Sixth  Church; 
Dr.  Alexander  Macklin  in  the.  Scots  Church;  Dr.  Henry  Steele 
Clark  in  the  Central  Church;  Dr.  Henry  S.  Darling  in  the  Clinton 
Street  Church;  Dr.  Thomas  J.  Shepherd  in  the  First  Church, 
Northern  Liberties;  Dr.  John  McDowell  in  the  Spring  Garden 
Church;  Dr.  John  Patton  in  the  Logan  Square  Church  ;  Dr.  J.  G. 
Butler  in  the  West  Walnut  Street  Church;  the  Rev.  Robert  Watts 
in  the  Westminster  Church ;  Dr.  E.  P.  Rodgers  in  the  Seventh 
Church ;  Dr.  John  Jenkins  in  the  Calvary  Church ;  the  Rev.  William 
O.  Johnstone  in  the  Kensington  Church;  the  Rev.  William  Black- 
wood in  the  Ninth  Church ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Henry  A.  Boardman  in  the  Tenth  Church.  Of  these  nineteen 
pastors  only  three  remain  in  the  pulpits  they  occupied  twenty-five 
years  ago,  viz. :  Dr.  Blackwood,  Dr.  Shepherd,  and  Dr.  John- 
stone.    Of  the  others,  seven,  absent  from  the  body,  are  present 


HISTOEICAL   DISCOUESE.  11 

with  the  Lord.  The  rest  are  either  laboring  in  other  fields,  or, 
honorably  retired,  still  serve  God  by  their  steady  adherence  to  the 
faith,  their  wise  counsels,  their  godly  example,  and  their  prayers. 

Let  us  now  look  upon  our  Zion. 
First.  In  its  Parentage. 

It  lacks  but  little  of  being  half  a  century  since  the  hour  when 
the  attention  of  passers  by  was  attracted  to  the  spot,  now  so  sacred, 
at  the  corner  of  Walnut  and  Twelfth  streets,  by  a  company  of 
people  engaged  in  laying  the  corner-stone  of  a  house  of  worship. 

To  quote  from  the  Quarter  Century  Discourse  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Board  man : 

"The  merit  of  proposing  the  erection  of  a  church  on  this  spot 
is  due  to  the  late  Furman  Leaming.  Mr.  Learning  associated 
with  himself  five  other  gentlemen,  viz.:  Messrs.  John  Stille,  of 
the  Second  Church ;  George  Ralston  and  James  Kerr,  of  the  First 
Church;  and  William  Brown  and  Solomon  Allen,  of  the  Sixth 
Church.  Through  the  liberality  and  energy  of  these  six  Christian 
men  the  M^ork  was  accomplished.  The  corner-stone  was  laid,  with 
appropriate  ceremonies,  by  the  late  venerable  Ashbel  Green,  D.D., 
on  the  8th  of  August,  1828.  On  the  24th  of  May  following,  the 
first  sermon  was  preached  in  the  lecture-room  by  the  Rev.  Dirck 
C.  Lansing,  D.D.  The  building  was  completed  on  the  7th  of  De- 
cember, 1829,  and  opened  for  worship  on  the  ensuing  Sabbath." 

The  first  pastor  of  the  Tenth  Church  was  Dr.  Thomas  McAuley. 
Its  second  pastor  was  the  Rev.  Henry  A.  Boardman,  D.D.,  his 
pastorate  extending  from  November  8th,  1833,  through  a  period 
of  over  forty-seven  years;  a  pastorate  which, — for  ability  and  true 
manly  dignity  in  the  incumbent,  for  fidelity  to  sound  doctrine,  for 
richness  of  pulpit  instruction,  for  purity  and  felicity  of  literary 
style,  for  persuasive  eloquence,  and  for  reach  of  healthful  influ- 
ence,— left  nothing  to  be  desired,  whether  on  the  part  of  the  church 
at  large  or  of  the  congregation  to  which  he  directly  ministered. 

Second.  Look  upon  our  Zion  in  its  Origin  and  early  Progress. 

The  origin  of  our  Zion,  like  that  of  our  country,  is  one  to  which 
we  can  ever  look  back  with  gratitude  unmingled  with  regret. 
Sometimes  disruptive  forces  rending  a  congregation  have  angrily 
ejected  a  colony,  but  our  Zion  came  forth  as  a  flower  from  the  bud 


12  HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 

gently  swelling  and  opening  nnder  the  genial  rays  and  rains  of 
devout  gratitude  and  holy,  self-denying  zeal.  The  birthplace  of 
this  church  was  undoubtedly  the  mind  and  heart  of  Dr.  Boardman. 

The  records  in  the  case  read  as  follows: 

"On  the  20th  January,  1852,  a  number  of  gentlemen  connected 
with  the  Tenth  Presbyterian  Church  met,  by  invitation  of  the  pas- 
tor, the  Rev.  Henry  A.  Boardman,  D.D.,  at  his  house. 

"The  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  confer  upon  the  duty  of  erect- 
ing an  additional  Presbyterian  church  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 
The  Tenth  Church  itself  was  the  result  of  a  peaceful  colonization 
in  1829.  Originating  in  the  benevolence,  foresight  and  enterprise 
of  only  six  persons,  it  had  become  a  large  and  prosperous  congre- 
gation, numbering  more  than  five  hundred  communicants.  For 
many  years  its  pews  had  been  filled,  so  that  it  had  become  difficult 
for  strangers  any  longer  to  obtain  sittings.  It  numbered  nearly 
seven  hundred  scholars  and  teachers  in  its  Sunday-schools;  it  was 
free  from  discord  and  from  debt;  it  had  been  blessed  for  a  much 
longer  period  than  is  granted  to  most  churches  with  the  ministra- 
tions of  the  same  beloved  pastor;  and  it  was  felt  to  be  only  a  fitting 
expression  of  gratitude  to  the  Author  of  all  mercies  that  the  con- 
gregation thus  favored  should,  in  its  turn,  build  another  church 
and  send  forth  a  colony  to  occupy  it. 

"For  the  purpose  of  carrying  these  views  into  effect  a  committee 
was  appointed,  consisting  of  the  following  gentlemen,  namely: 
James  B.  Ross,  Singleton  A.  Mercer,  Morris  Patterson,  James 
Murphy,  Thomas  Hoge,  and  James  Imbrie,  Jr. 

"The  committee  soon  came,  to  the  conclusion  that  the  proper 
location  for  such  an  enterprise  was  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the 
city,  and  in  June,  1852,  a  suitable  lot  was  secured  on  the  corner 
of  Seventeenth  and  Spruce  streets.  Several  cities  were  visited  for 
the  purpose  of  inspecting  church  edifices,  particularly  those  recently 
erected,  and  finally  a  plan  for  the  building  was  adopted  in  accord- 
ance with  a  sketch  furnished  to  the  committee  by  John  McArthur, 
Jr.,  Architect.  In  reference  to  the  means  for  carrying  the  plan  into 
effect,  the  committee,  after  numerous  efforts  in  other  congregations, 
found  that  if  the  new  church  was  built  at  all,  it  must  be  mainly 
as  a  Tenth  Church  enterprise." 

While  from  a  variety  of  causes  the  wheels  of  the  enterprise  were 
dragging  heavily  along,  an  event  occurred  which  threatened  to  be 
its  "Beuoni,"  the  son  of  its  sorrow,  but  which  proved  to  be  its 


HISTORICAL    DISCOUESE.  13 

'' Benjamin/'  the  son  of  its  right  hand.  The  General  Assembly, 
iu  the  year  1853,  appointed  Dr.  Boardraan  to  a  professorship  in 
the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  made  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  thus  threatening  the  Tenth  Church  with 
the  loss  of  its  pastor. 

One  result  of  this  alarm  was  a  congregational  meeting,  at  which 
it  was 

"Resolved,  That  under  the  promptings  of  the  pastor,  the  congregation  had  en- 
tered upon  a  plan  for  forming  a  new  church  and  congregation,  that  tliis  plan 
was  now  nearly  mature  and  about  to  be  consummated  by  the  erection  of  a  suit- 
able edifice,  and  that  his  removal  would  undo  what  had  been  already  done  and 
extinguish  that  important  prospective  church." 

They  added  that  his  determination  to  remain  with  them  would 
make  them  feel  distinctly  called  upon,  as  a  memorial  of  God's 
goodness,  to  engage  with  renewed  zeal  in  the  important  work  be- 
fore them. 

Dr.  Boardman  decided  to  remain,  the  enterprise  received  a  fresh 
impetus,  and  on  the  29th  of  March,  1854,  a  charter  was  obtained, 
in  which  the  following  gentlemen  were  named  as  a  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, to  act  until  May,  1856,  viz.:  Moses  Johnson,  Morris  Patter- 
son, Singleton  A.  Mercer,  John  R.  Vogdes,  James  B.  Ross,  James 
Murphy,  William  Brown,  William  Goodrich,  Theodore  Cuyler, 
James  Imbrie,  Jr.,  Maurice  A.  Wurts,  J.  Engle  Negus,  John 
McArthur,  Jr.,  John  S.  Hart,  and  Anthony  J.  Olmstead. 

The  26th  of  April,  1855,  saw  a  large  company  of  people  gath- 
ered upon  a  spacious  open  lot  where  this  edifice  now  stands,  sing- 
ing, praying  and  listening  to  the  story  of  the  enterprise  thus  far, 
and  engaged  in  the  formal  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of 
the  new  building.  That  stone  was  laid  by  Dr.  Boardman,  assisted 
by  the  Ptev.  Dr.  Jones,  the  Rev.  Charles  W.  Shields,  and  several 
clergymen  of  other  denominations.  The  box  in  the  corner-stone 
contains  a  copy  of  the  Holy  Bible  and  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  ; 
a  copy,  also,  of  Dr.  Boardman 's  works, — The  Bible  in  the  Family, 
The  Bible  in  the  Counting-house,  and  The  Great  Question ;  also, 
the  Minutes  of  the  General  Asseiubly  of  the  year  1854,  the  Report 
of  the  Sunday-school  of  the  Tenth  Church,  the  Presbyterian  Maga- 
zine, the  Home  and  Foreign  Record,  The  Presbyterian,  the  Chris- 
tian Intelligencer,  and  the  secular  papers  of  the  day ;  coins  of  the 


14  III^^TO^vICAT-    mSCOUKSE. 

Vn\U\\  Statojs,  aiul  :i  ninnusoript  copy  of  a  narrative  of  the  origin 
of  the  ontorpriso.  proparoil  bv  Profesj^or  Hart. 

As  the  Kvturo-nH^ni  approaohoil  completion,  it  Mas  thought 
ndvisjihlc  to  open  it  for  ]nil>lic  worship  without  waiting  six  or 
nine  months  for  the  comphni.Mi  of  the  maiu  editice. 

Aiwrdingly  application  was  maile  to  the  Pi^sbyterv  of  Phila- 
ilclphia.  at  its  nuvting.  April  id,  1S5G,  to  organize  the  new 
rhnrclu  and  the  Pivsbytery  appointcii  a  Committee  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  Si\-v<ion  of  the  Tenth  Chmvh  also  granted,  to  such  of 
their  memlxM-s  as  had  asktxi  for  it,  a  letter  of  dismission  to  the' 
AVest  Spru^v  Stiwt  Chuivh.  On  the  evening  of  April  3d,  1S56, 
the  nuMnlvi-s  thus  dismissal  met  in  the  lectnre-i\x>m  of  the  Tenth 
Chuivh,  and  were  duly  tvustiiuteii  a  church,  as  will  appear  from 
the  following  minutes  of  their  proceedings : 

'•  Phiuldklphia,  April  3d,  1S56. 
''  Minutes  of  a  meeting  held  at  the  leoinre-nx>m  of  the  Tenth 
rtv^hyierian  Churvh  of  Philadelphia,  April  3^1,  1S56,  in  aecord- 
anee  with  notice  given  tWra  the  pulpit  for  the  purpise  of  organ- 
iting  the  new  ehntvh  at  the  corner  of  Spruce  and  Seventeenth 
stnvts  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 

"The  Kev.  Dr.  IV^alman,  4»rt^iding,  announced  that  the 
PKsbyterv  had  ap|xnnted  the  following  Committee  to  organize 
the  ohuivi,  vit :  1>.  Engles,  Rev.  Mr.  Shields,  Paul  T.  Jones, 
James  Dixon.  am\  Pr.  iw«rdraan.  All  these  gentlemen  were 
pn^nu  exe^^fvt  Dr.  Engles,  who  \«ras  prevented  frem  anending  by 
hKlis|x>siiion, 

*'Atter  reliirioiis  s^^vioes.  Dr.  R^aiviman  stated  that  it  was 
iK\x^5S4rv-  tv»  ap^xvau  a  secretary;  wherenpon,  on  modoo  ci  M.^rris 
raiiei^Mi,  Eilx^^iad  Miller  \ras  ap  ~  x-maiy  of  this  meerii^. 

..  >^_  1?  ,^rvinwn  then  siauxi  :.-  -^  :Jode  preseiibed  by  the 
vv  -  ot*  the  PK^yremn  Chureii  f«r  wr^aniiii^  a  congre- 

jpitiott  xras  to  oiKXW  niling  elvfers.  He  then  read  a  minate  of  the 
Sossiv^n  of  the  Tenth  Prvsiyre^utt  Chureh  of  this  dtte,  approving 
ot"  the  pTv^x>«<xl  s^^xiiatioo,  and  a^xtiemt^  dismisu^  thirty- 
four  uteml:^  to  the  new  chureh.  The  swd  minute,  tc^edier  wiih 
the  naww^  are  appended  hereoRWV  and  are  to  he  coaadered  as 
l^vniii^  a  pMt  of  this  reiwtd.  Other  persote  inKodii^  to  join 
the  new  ehnreh  whv«  sums  w««  ws  on  the  list  jn=«  le^  w«re 
Ulvi^^i  to  irtv*  in  their  nuii^  and  oke  pan  in  the  proceedi^^ 


HISTORICAL   DISCOUESE.  15 

"On  motion  of  Mr.  Mercer,  the  meeting  proceeded  to  elect  three 
Ruling  Elders  and  a  Deacon. 

"  Messrs.  Ross,  Tilford,  and  Cash  having  been  appointed  tellers, 
took  the  ballots,  and  reported  that  James  Imbrie,  Jr.,  John  S. 
Hart,  and  Morris  Patterson  had  each  received  seventeen  votes  for 
Ruling  Elders,  and  John  Mc Arthur,  Jr.,  the  same  number  of  votes 
for  Deacon,  being  the  whole  number  of  votes  polled ;  whereupon 
these  brethren  were  declared  to  have  been  unanimously  elected, 
and  were  installed  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  The  questions  having  been  affirmatively  answered 
bv  the  elders  elect  and  the  cono-reo-atiou,  the  rioht  hand  of  fellow- 
ship  was  given  and  the  exhortation  pronounced  by  Dr.  Boardman. 

"On  motion  of  Mr.  Mercer,  the  congregation  proceeded  to  the 
election  of  a  pastor.  The  same  tellers  having  received  the  votes, 
reported  that  the  Rev.  William  P.  Breed  had  received  twenty- 
eight  votes,  being  the  whole  number  polled.  Mr.  Breed  was 
accordingly  declared  to  have  been  unanimously  chosen. 

"On  motion  of  Mr.  Vogdes,  the  Ruling  Elders  elect  and  the 
president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
prosecute  the  call  for  Mr.  Breed. 

"The  meeting  concluded  with  prayer  by  Dr.  Coleman;  hymn 
and  benediction  by  !Mr.  Shields. 

"Edwaed  Miller, 

[Signed]  "Secretary." 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  thirty-four  original  mem- 
bers of  this  church : 

Mr.  Singleton  A.  Mercer,  Mr.  "William  L.  Mactier, 

Mrs.  Maria  Mercer,  Mrs.  Anna  G.  Mactier, 

Mr.  James  Imbrie,  Mrs.  Catharine  T.  Wendell, 

^Irs.  Caroline  F.  M.  Imbrie,  Hilborne  West,  M.D., 

;Mr.  Morris  Patterson,  Mrs.  Susan  E.  West, 

Mrs.  Mary  Patterson,  ]Mrs.  Martha  Bullock, 

Mr.  John  S.  Hart,  Miss  Anna  L.  Bullock, 

Mrs.  Amelia  C.  Hart,  Mr.  John  Bayneton, 

Mr.  John  R.  Vogdes,  Mrs.  Cornelia  Bayneton, 

Mrs.  Susan  B.  Murphy,  Mr.  Edward  Miller, 

Mr.  John  McArthur,  Jr.,  Mrs.  Jessie  P.  Miller, 

Mrs.  Matilda  P.  McArthur,  ^Mrs.  Caroline  Elizabeth  Lind, 

Mr.  Benjamin  P.  Hutchinson,  Miss  Helen  Chambers, 


16  HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 

Mrs.  Phoebe  Ann  Hutchinson,  Mr.  Joseph  P.  Cooper, 

Miss  :Mary  M.  Hutchinson,  Mrs.  Mary  Jane  Cooper, 

Mr.  William  Watt,  Mr.  John  A.  Black, 

Mrs.  Maria  Black,  Mrs.  Emeliue  E.  Heist. 

On  the  4th  of  April,  1856,  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  met, 
and  Mr.  Morris  Patterson  appeared  as  commissioner  from  the  con- 
gregation of  the  West  Spruce  Street  Church.  The  call  for  the 
pastor  was  presented,  and  the  congregation  obtained  leave  to  prose- 
cute the  same  before  the  Presbytery  of  Steubenville,  Ohio. 

In  the  meantime  great  was  the  perturbation  of  spirit  in  that 
beautiful  amphitheatre  on  the  western  shore  of  the  Ohio  River, 
formed  by  the  hills  as  they  recede  just  far  enough  to  allow  the 
little  city  of  Steubenville  to  pitch  there  its  smoky  tent.  The 
centre  of  the  perturbation  was  the  parsonage  of  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church,  from  which  it  overflowed  into  and  through  the 
cono-rei^^ation.  For  over  eight  years  the  pastor  had  occupied  that 
field.     It  was  his  first  charge. 

While  still  at  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  a  letter 
was  put  into  his  hands  from  the  Rev.  Charles  C.  Beatty,  D.D.,  to 
the  venerable  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  asking  that  one  of  the 
students  then  about  to  be  graduated  be  invited  to  visit  Steuben- 
ville with  a  view  to  settlement  over  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  that  place.  It  was,  of  course,  entirely  unexpected. 
And  though  deeply  interested  in  foreign  missions  and  member 
of  a  circle  that  met  statedly  to  talk  and  pray  over  that  great  and 
glorious  cause,  and  almost  ready  to  offer  himself  to  the  Board  for 
the  foreign  service,  the  dropping  of  this  letter  into  his  hands,  as  it 
were  from  the  clouds,  led  to  the  decision  at  least  to  visit  the  church 
at  Steubenville  and  take  a  look  at  that  field. 

The  result  was  a  residence  there  of  upwards  of  eight  years. 
Never  was  there  a  kinder  people.  Not  a  jar  of  discord  was  ever 
heard  ;  except  perhaps  when  the  organ  was  introduced,  at  the 
first  sound  of  which  an  excellent  old  lady  of  true  Caledonian  blue 
started  up  in  her  pew,  as  if  a  thunderbolt  had  fallen,  listened  a 
moment  to  assure  herself  that  the  abomination  had  actually  in- 
vaded the  sanctuary,  and  then  walked  with  head  erect  down  the 
aisle,  'never  again  to  grace  with  her  presence  that  desecrated  spot. 


HISTOEICAL   DISCOUESE.  17 

After  a  year  or  so  gracious  clouds  began  to  gather,  and  the 
good  hand  of  God  set  before  us  that  precious  luxury,  a  young 
pastor's  first  revival.  It  was  a  heavenly  shower,  and  from  that 
time,  at  intervals,  other  like  showers  fell.  During  the  eight  years 
there  we  received  to  the  communion  in  all  382  souls,  254  of  them 
on  confession  of  faith. 

Of  course  then,  the  call  to  Philadelphia  produced  no  small  com- 
motion in  the  hearts  of  people  and  pastor.  And  on  the  18th  of 
April,  1856,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  Dr. 
Board  man  laid  before  it  the  following  letter  from  Dr.  Beatty,  of 
the  Steubenville  Presbytery,  announcing  the  action  of  that  Pres- 
bytery in  the  case  : 

"  A  call  from  the  West  Spruce  Street  Church,  in  the  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia,  was  taken  up  and  fully  discussed,  when,  after 
mature  deliberation,  it  was  resolved  that  the  West  Spruce  Street 
Church  be  requested  to  desist  from  prosecuting  the  call,  and  that 
INIr.  Breed  be  earnestly  advised  by  this  Presbytery  to  remain  in 
his  present  most  important,  interesting  and  encouraging  field  of 
labor."  This  resolution  passed  in  Presbytery  with  only  one  dis- 
senting voice. 

Dr.  Boardman  now  stated  that  the  cono;reo;ation,  on  learnino;  of 
this  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  Steubenville  had  unanimously  re- 
peated the  call,  and  the  Presbytery  at  once  authorized  the  congre- 
gation again  to  prosecute  it  before  the  Presbytery  of  Steubenville. 

By  the  charter  of  the  West  Spruce  Street  Church  the  subscribers 
to  the  application  for  an  Act  of  Incorporation  were  invested  with 
the  duty  of  calling  the  first  pastor.  And  on  the  12th  of  February, 
1856,  the  Board  of  Trustees  unanimously  resolved  that  Mr.  Breed, 
of  Steubenville,  be  recommended  to  them  as  a  suitable  person  for 
their  choice.  On  the  14th  of  February,  the  corporators  met  in  the 
lecture-room  of  the  Tenth  Church,  and  after  a  statement  by  Mr. 
Singleton  A.  Mercer,  it  was,  on  motion  of  William  A.  Porter,  Esq., 
resolved  to  proceed  to  the  election  of  a  pastor.  The  candidate  was 
unanimously  chosen.  This  election  was  followed  by  a  unanimous 
election  and  call  by  the  people  at  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the 
church  ;  and  this,  after  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  Steubenville, 
by  a  unanimous  repetition  of  the  call.  It  is  very  evident,  therefore, 
that  the  people  were  determined  that,  so  far  as  their  action  was 
concerned,  this  should  be  a  case  of  effectual  calling. 

2 


18  HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 

As  to  the  motives  that  aHowed  the  sundering  of  ties  so  many, 
so  tender,  and  so  sacred,  I  have  never  had  one  question.  The  sus- 
picion was  perfectly  natural  that  ambition  or  a  desire  for  more 
ample  pecuniary  provision  was  at  least  among  those  motives.  And 
it  may  be  doubted  whether  we  are  always  competent  to  tell  what 
motives  do  actuate  us.  They  are  so  subtle,  and  we  are  so  blind, 
that  we  are  often  moved  by  motives  other  than  those  in  conscious 
operation.  But  on  this  point,  with  reference  to  this  action,  I 
never  had  a  doubt. 

I  always  had  rather  a  dread  of  than  a  desire  for  a  luxuri- 
ous pastorate.  And  as  to  ambition,  a  desire  to  occupy  the  pas- 
torate of  what  is  called  "  a  leading  church,"  I  may  say  to  you 
now,  as  we  are  communing  together  at  the  last  quarter-century 
service  we  shall  ever  participate  in,  that  when  I  arrived  in  this 
city  and  became  fully  aware  of  the  precise  nature  of  the  enterprise, 
my  emotions  were  not  free  from  a  tinge  of  disappointment. 
Knowing  that  this  church  was  to  be  a  colony  from  the  Tenth 
Church,  I  naturally  thought  of  a  sort  of  Church  Mission  en- 
terprise. And  among  the  tirst  questions  I  asked  Dr.  Board- 
man  in  my  correspondence  with  him  was,  "  Will  the  labors  there 
be  among  the  poor  ?"  He  simply  answered,  "  The  rich  and  the 
poor  meet  together."  Having  been  brought  up  mostly  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  having  been  for  years  a  tract  distributor  there, 
going  from  house  to  house,  into  garrets  and  cellars,  and  up  lanes 
and  alleys,  and  having  seen  with  my  own  eyes,  for  years  together, 
the  mass  of  neglected  sin  and  misery  that  hovels  itself  in  the 
hidden  places  of  great  cities,  whenever,  in  my  Steubenville  work, 
the  thought  was  suggested  by  letters  from  abroad  or  otherwise 
of  a  change  of  field  of  labor  the  reply  to  my  own  heart  ever  was, 
"No;  if  ever  I  leave  this  field  voluntarily,  it  will  be  to  go  to 
some  great  city  and  labor  among  the  poor."  But  when  I  reached 
Philadelphia  and  sav,'  the  field  to  which  I  had  been  drawn,  I  ex- 
claimed :  "  Well,  man  proposes;  God  disposes.  But  here  I  am, 
and  now  to  the  work  that  lies  before  me."  And  I  can  here  testify 
to  my  own  conscience  and  to  my  God  that  while  few  pastoral  fields 
include  homes  of  wealth  fuller  of  all  that  can  delight  a  pastor's 
heart,  your  pastor  has  enjoyed  no  other  portions  of  his  service  more 
than  those  which  have  taken  him  into  the  homes  of  the  poorest  of 
the  flock,  his  only  grief  being  that  time  and  strength  do  not  allow 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  19 

much  more  of  such  service.  And  thank  God,  we  have  never  in 
this  church  been  without  a  goodly  representation  of  those  of  whom 
Jesus  sent  word  to  the  imprisoned  John  as  the  chief  mark  of  his 
Messiahship  :  "  The  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  to  them." 

Recurring  now  to  a  record  made  at  the  time,  I  read  :  "  April 
7th,  1856.  A  most  trying  day.  Presbytery  dissolved  the  pas- 
toral relation  between  me  and  the  Second  Church  of  Steubenville. 
Having  been  led  along  step  by  step,  I  seemed  to  see  that  I  must 
go  to  the  West  Spruce  Street  Church  in  Philadelphia.  But  Presby- 
tery having  once  refused,  was  still  wavering,  and  I,  having  decided 
the  matter  in  my  own  mind,  let  them  know  fully  and  plainly  how 
I  felt,  and  they  acted  at  last  with  no  great  lack  of  unanimity.  It 
is  painful,  but  if  it  prove  happy  for  this  church  and  for  that,  I 
shall  never  recall  the  pain  with  any  regret.  May  the  good  S2)irit 
of  God  send  his  smile  upon  all  concerned." 

Accordingly,  on  May  26th,  1856,  as  the  records  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia  show, ''  Mr.  Breed  appeared  in  Presbytery  and 
produced  a  certificate  of  dismission  from  the  Presbytery  of  Steu- 
benville ;  he  was  then  examined  on  experimental  religion  and  his 
views  on  theology  and  church  government,  in  which  he  was  ap- 
proved and  was  received  as  a  member  of  this  Presbytery." 

Yes,  though  a  pastor  of  eight  years'  service  within  the  bounds 
of  a  Presbytery  more  Presbyterian  than  even  the  mother  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia,  the  newcomer  was  passed  through  that  ex- 
amination preparatory  to  his  enrolment  as  a  member  of  the  latter 
Presbytery.  And  we  insist  that  it  is  the  right  and  the  duty  of 
every  Presbytery  to  satisfy  itself  by  formal  examination,  no  matter 
what  papers  one  may  bring  from  another  Presbytery,  that  the  new- 
comer is  in  harmony  with  them  on  the  great  principles  of  doctrine 
and  church  government.  The  principle  that  a  certificate  of  one 
Presbytery  is  mandatory  over  another  destroys  Presbyterial  equality 
and  puts  Presbytery  in  subjection  to  Presbytery  eveu  as  to  the 
doctrine  that  is  to  be  preached  within  its  bounds. 

Right  willingly,  therefore,  did  your  pastor  submit  to  the  ques- 
tionings of  the  venerable  Dr.  McDowell  upon  the  various  points 
involved  in  such  examination. 

The  lecture-room  was  opened  for  worship  on  Sabbath,  IMay 
18th,  1856.  Mr.  Breed  preached  in  the  morning  and  Dr.  Board- 
man  in  the  afternoon.     On  the  same  day  two  large  Bible  classes 


20  HISTORICAL,   DISCOURSE. 

were  organized, — one  for  gentlemen,  under  tlie  care  of  the  Rev. 
Lyman  Coleman,  D.D.,  and  the  other  for  ladies,  under  the  charge 
of  Mr.  Hart. 

A  Sabbath-school  was  organized  in  June,  1856,  and  placed,  by 
a  vote  of  the  session,  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Hart. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  I'hiladelphia,  held  on 
Wednesday  evening,  June  4th,  at  the  Tenth  Church,  the  installa- 
tion of  the  pastor  elect  took  place.  Rev.  G.  W.  ISIusgrave,  D.D., 
the  moderator,  presiding,  and  putting  the  constitutional  questions, 
Dr.  Coleman  giving  the  charge  to  the  pastor  and  Dr.  Board  man 
to  the  people. 

During  this  same  month  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
Avas  administered  for  the  first  time  in  the  lecture-room,  twelve 
persons  being  admitted  to  membership,  four  of  them  on  profession 
of  fiiith. 

On  the  first  Sabbath  of  1857  this  house  was  dedicated  to  the 
worship  of  the  Triune  God.  On  that  day  the  Tenth  Church  was 
closed,  that  the  congregation  might  participate  with  us  in  the 
solemn  services  of  the  occasion.  The  pastor  preached  morning 
and  evening,  and  the  Rev.  John  M.  Krebs,  D.D.,  of  New  York, 
Mr.  Breed's  former  pastor,  in  the  afternoon.  Dr.  Boardman,  to 
the  great  regret  of  all,  was  detained  at  home  by  sickness. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  West  Spruce  Street  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  such  the  auspices  under  which  it  set  out  upon  its 
career.  It  was  born  of  the  spirit  of  thanksgiving  and  self-sacrifice. 
Those  who  left  the  old  home  did  so  through  a  severance  of  ties 
which  bound  them  to  persons  and  scenes  which  were  very  dear  to 
them,  and  they  took  upon  them  burdens  not  easily  but  very  cheer- 
fully borne. 

Of  the  original  thirty-four  members  but  fourteen  were  men,  and 
of  this  iburteen  a  very  small  portion  bore  the  heavier  end  of  the 
pecuniary  load. 

And  what  sort  of  an  offering  it  was  that  that  handful  of  men 
designed  fov  their  God  and  his  cause  you  may  see  by  looking 
about  you.  ''Walk  about  this  Zion,  and  go  round  about  her; 
tell  the  towers  thereof,  and  mark  her  bulwarks !"  A'^isit  that 
lecture-room,  and  say  if  you  have  elsewhere  seen  its  superior  for 
beauty  and  thorough  attractiveness  as  a  place  of  social  worship. 
Ascend  the  stairs  and  look  in  upon  that  Sabbath-school  room,  and 


HISTORICAL    DISCOURSE.  21 

you  will  acknowledge  that  greater  completeness  in  furniture,  cheer- 
fulness and  beauty  were  superfluous.  Look  at  these  graceful 
arches,  that  spring  from  column  to  column;  at  that  richly  frescoed 
ceiling,  and  these  sumptuously  furnished  pews;  listen  to  the  notes 
that  come  in  such  fulness  of  melodious  flow  from  yonder  organ  ; 
send  your  eyes  upward  along  the  lines  of  that  lofty  sj)ire,  that 
now,  for  twenty-five  years,  has  pointed  like  a  great  finger,  up  to 
our  final  home,  and  you  will  see  that  those  who  gave  this  church 
to  God  were  full  of  the  spirit  of  David,  when  he  said  to  Araunah, 
the  Jebusite,  "  I  will  not  ofler  to  the  Lord  my  God  of  that  which 
costs  me  nothing."  Nor  did  it  cost  them  nothing.  One,*  whose 
form  we  see  no  more  among  us,  gave  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars 
to  the  enterprise.  And  among  the  good  providences  of  God  to  us 
has  been  his  guiding  into  our  spiritual  household  others  from  other 
churches  and  congregations,  to  whose  zeal,  talents,  and  liberality 
we  have  been  indebted  for  the  liquidation  of  claims  upon  the 
church  to  the  amount  of  many  thousands  of  dollars,  as  well  as 
large  and  generous  aid  in  keeping  the  edifice  in  repair  and  adding 
richly  to  its  attractiveness.  It  requires  some  self-denial  to  refrain 
from  naming  one,  who,  coming  among  us  subsequently  to  the 
period  of  our  organization,  has  repeatedly  laid  the  whole  congre- 
gation under  obligation  to  his  spirit  of  enterprise  and  his  unstinted 
liberality.f 

OjfiGe-bearers. — From  the  organization  of  our  church  to  the  year 
1857,  John  McArthur,  Jr.,  was  our  only  deacon.  On  November 
18th  of  that  year  George  Junkin  and  William  L.  Mactier  were 
elected  deacons,  and  ordained  and  installed  on  the  9th  of  December. 

Our  ruling  elders  up  to  December,  1860,  were  James  Imbrie, 
Jr.,  John  S.  Hart,  and  Morris  Patterson.  On  Wednesday  evening, 
December  12th,  Daniel  L.  Collier,  George  Junkin,  and  Henry  D. 
Sherrerd  were  elected  ruling  elders,  and  Charles  O.  Abbey  was 
chosen  deacon,  and  they  were  ordained  and  installed  in  oflice  on 
Sabbath  afternoon,  January  27th,  1861. 

In  our  sessional  records  of  jSIarch  16th,  1855,  the  name  of  Mr. 
Imbrie  appears  for  the  last  time,  he  having  removed  from  the 
city;  and  toward  the  close  of  1862,  Mr.  Hart  also  removed;  and 
on  the  30th  of  March,  1869,  Mr.  Collier  left  his  place  at  our  com- 
munion table  to  take  his  seat  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb. 

*  Mr.  Morris  Patterson.  f  Mr.  Gustavus  S.  Benson. 


22  HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  congregation,  held  September  28th,  1870, 
Gustavus  S.  Benson,  John  D.  McCord,  and  Lucius  Barrows 
were  elected  ruling  elders,  and  on  Sabbath  afternoon,  October  2d, 
they  were  ordained  and  installed  in  office. 

On  Wednesday  evening,  March  18th,  1874,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
congregation  in  the  lecture-room,  Charles  H.  Grant,  Albert  G. 
Heyl,  and  Frank  K.  Hippie  were  elected  deacons,  and  on  Sabbath 
morning,  March  29th,  they  were  duly  ordained  and  installed. 

Third.  Looh  upon  our  Zion  in  its  organization. 

The  title  of  our  church  is  "The  West  Spruce  Street  Presby- 
terian Church."  And  from  the  first  it  has  been  Presbyterian  in 
doctrine,  in  organization,  in  government,  and  in  worship. 

Doctrine. — Presbyterian  ism  insists  upon  clear,  positive,  definite, 
doctrinal  statements.  It  maintains  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are 
the  very  word  of  God ;  that  they  teach  what  man  is  to  believe 
concerning  God,  and  what  duty  God  requires  of  man ;  that  com- 
mon sense,  guided  by  the  spirit  of  God,  is  competent  to  find  out 
what  those  truths  are  which  man  is  to  believe,  and  what  those 
duties  are  which  man  is  to  dischai;ge,  and  that  of  these  the  promi- 
nent and  dominant  may  be  grouped  together  into  formulas,  and 
set  before  the  world  as  its  view  of  the  mind  and  will  of  God  upon 
these  points. 

It  has  no  sympathy  with  the  vague  indefiniteness  that  professes 
to  believe  the  whole  Bible  without  professing  faith  in  any  given 
doctrine  of  the  Bible,  and  none  with  that  no-system  that,  rejecting 
and  decrying  all  creeds,  exacts  of  the  Christian  world  an  adherence 
to  its  creed  that  man  should  have  no  creed. 

Presbyterianism  insists  upon  a  creed.  It  does  not  demand  of 
others  an  acceptance  of  that  creed,  but  it  claims  the  right  to  have 
a  creed ;  and  it  has  little  patience  with  the  disingenuousness  that 
retains  the  Presbyterian  name  and  place  in  a  Presbyterian  pulpit 
while  disregarding,  innovating,  or  even  decrying  its  doctrine, 
government,  or  worship. 

It  finds  in  the  word  of  God  certain  doctrines,  and  among  these 
that  of  the  sovereignty  of  God,  of  whom,  to  whom,  and  through 
whom  arc  all  things ;  and  it  holds  that  it  is  enough  for  one  uni- 
verse if  God  be  glorified.    It  finds  there  the  doctrine  of  man's  free- 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  23 

clom.  The  world's  a  stage,  and  human  beings  are  the  players;  but 
God  wrote  the  play,  and  he  determines  the  entrances  and  exits  of 
the  actors,  and  he  overrules  all  their  free  actions  to  his  own  gloiy. 
It  finds  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  a  Triune  God,  a  vicarious  atone- 
ment, and  the  final  condition  of  men  set  forth  in  the  words  of 
Jesus :  "These  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,  but  the 
righteous  into  life  eternal." 

And  may  this  house  of  worship  sink  in  ashes  ere  the  people 
worshipping  here  either  cease  to  have  a  creed,  or  give  acceptance 
to  a  creed  that  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  word  of  God ! 

Government. — We  are  persuaded,  from  no  little  observation  and 
experience,  that  very  many  of  the  disorders  that  here  and  there 
afflict  congregations  are  due  to  the  want  of  thorough-going  Presby- 
terianism  in  their  government. 

When,  on  the  one  hand,  the  pastor,  by  neglect  of  the  ruling 
elders,  takes  into  his  own  hand  the  government  of  the  church, 
and  thus  induces  upon  our  system  a  kind  of  semi-prelacy,  or 
when,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Session,  by  frequent  appeals  to  the 
people,  refer  to  them  the  settlement  of  questions  which  it  ought  to 
decide,  it  will  not  be  surprising  that  troubles  arise. 

A  Presbyterian  church  is  a  Representative  Republic,  In  this 
republic  the  authority,  which,  under  God,  vests  in  the  people,  is, 
by  his  ordination,  to  be  exercised  by  certain  officers  elected  by  them. 

By  our  constitution  the  Session,  composed  of  the  pastor  and  the 
Ruling  Elders,  is  charged  with  the  spiritual  oversight  and  control 
of  the  church. 

Accordingly,  in  this  church,  not  only  the  ordinary  routine  of 
church  affairs,  as  the  admission  of  members  and  the  like,  but  the 
music  and  the  Sabbath-school  have  been  kept  under  strict  sessional 
supervision  and  control. 

The  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school  is  appointed  by  the 
Session.  When  he  withdraws  from  office  he  offers  his  resignation 
to  the  Session,  and  while  in  office  he  is  held  responsible  to  the 
Session  for  whatever  is  done  and  taught  in  the  school. 

By  this  means  the  excitement,  the  partisanship,  and  sometimes 
the  sad  divisions  which  we  have  known  to  attend  the  nominations 
and  canvassing  of  frequent  elections  in  the  Sabbath-school  are 
avoided.     For  twenty-five  years  there  has  been  scarce  a  ripple  of 


24  HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 

unpleasant  excitement  in  our  Sabbath -school.  And  thus  we  assert 
and  keep  in  view  the  great  principle  that  the  Sabbath-school, 
instead  of  being  a  voluntary  association,  co-ordinate  with  the 
church,  is  an  integral  portion  of  the  church,  a  living  arm  of  the 
church,  to  be  used  by  the  church  in  leading  its  lambs  through  the 
green  pastures  and  by  the  still  waters  of  life. 

Worship. — In  this  also  our  church  has  maintained  its  Presby- 
terian character.  Two  systems  of  worship  are  ever  struggling  for 
the  mastery:  the  one  direct  and  intellectual,  the  other  indirect  and 
symbolical ;  the  one  a  worship  through  the  senses,  the  eye,  and  the 
ear,  the  other  a  worship  through  the  mind  and  heart.  The  one 
seeks  to  excite  devout  emotion  by  means  of  the  imagination,  the 
other  by  means  of  truths  clearly  apprehended  by  the  intellect. 

Even  under  the  old  preparatory  dispensation  no  authority  but 
God's  was  competent  to  institute  a  rite,  appoint  a  ceremony,  or 
ordain  a  symbol.  And,  for  observance  under  the  New,  God  has 
appointed  but  two  services  of  a  symbolical  nature;  these  are  Bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  Supper.  To  these  Presbyterianism  carefully 
adheres,  rejecting  all  others  as  intrusions,  human  and  unauthorized. 

The  record  respecting  Christian  worship  in  the  times  of  Jesus  and 
the  apostles  shows  it  to  have  been  almost  exclusively,  and  more  and 
more  exclusively,  not  a  temple  worship  but  a  synagogue  worship. 
This  worship  consisted  in  reading  and  expounding  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  in  singing  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs. 

And  precisely  such  is  the  worship  of  a  Presbyterian  church. 

Accordingly  we  have  steadily  avoided  the  tendency  that  in  some 
cases  has  resulted  in  a  sort  of  combination  of  the  religious  opera 
and  the  horticultural  exhibition.  And  we  trust  that  the  day  is 
yet  a  good  way  off  when  our  ])eople  will  be  found  decking  their 
worship  with  any  of  the  ribbons  of  a  fantastic  ritualism,  or  stray- 
ing into  the  flower-fringed  path  that  so  often  terminates  at  Rome. 

Nor  have  we  yielded  up  our  singing  gallery  to  the  musical 
artiste,  according  to  whose  creed  the  chief  end  of  a  church  is  the 
organ  loft,  and  the  chief  end  of  the  performers  there  is  to  display 
their  accomplishments,  sing  their  own  praises,  and  gratify  a  culti- 
vated musical  taste,  and  the  effect  of  which  is  to  fritter  away  the 
attention,  thought  and  emotion  due  to  the  stupendous  themes  of 
righteousness,  temperance  and  a  judgment  to  come. 


HISTOEICAL   DISCOURSE.  25 

Our  aim  has  been  to  make  our  music  a  part  of  our  devotion. 
Our  choir  is,  and  has  been,  composed  ahnost  exclusively  of  mem- 
bers of  our  church,  who  contribute  their  time  and  voices  as  a  free 
gift  to  God.  And  while  we  do  not  aim  at  artistic  perfection,  we 
are  persuaded  that  few  devout  minds  will  fail  to  find  comfort  and 
spiritual  satisfiiction  in  the  music  that  reaches  the  ear  from  our 
singing  gallery. 

The  Deacons. — We  have  already  noticed  the  election  of  a  deacon 
at  the  same  time  that  elders  were  chosen.  And  if  we  read  our 
standards  aright,  a  Presbyterian  church  is  imperfectly  organized 
until  deations  are  found  amono;  its  officers.  According  to  our  "  form 
of  government,"  "  the  ordinary  and  perpetual  officers  of  the  church 
are  bishops  or  pastors,  the  representatives  of  the  people  usually 
styled  ruling  elders  and  deacons." 

It  is  one  of  the  most  significant  and  touching  facts  of  tlie  New 
Testament  history,  as  recorded  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  that  the  first  officers  ordained  after  the  apostles  were 
deacons,  whose  one  great  duty  it  was  to  take  care  of  the  poor. 
Jesus  was  poor;  he  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head.  He  cared  for 
the  poor.  Accordingly,  his  spirit  richly  pervading  the  early 
church,  before  mention  is  made  of  the  election  and  ordination  of 
elders,  we  have  a  detailed  account  of  the  institution  of  the  office 
of  the  deacon. 

And  while,  as  the  centuries  rolled  on,  every  other  office  of  the 
church  was  modified  and  distorted  almost  beyond  recognition,  the 
office  of  deacon  retained  unchanged  its  original  form,  signification, 
and  function,  and  there  was  even  a  superstitious  clinging  to  its 
original  number,  seven. 

Fabianus,  Bishop  of  Rome,  in  the  year  236,  appointed  seven 
deacons  to  take  oversight  of  the  poor  in  the  fourteen  wards  into 
which  the  city  was  divided. 

And  it  is  a  law  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  that  no  one  of  its 
members  be  allowed  to  suffisr  for  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life, 
and  that  they  shall  not  be  thrown  upon  the  charities  of  others. 

For  the  sake  then  of  organic  symmetry,  of  conformity  to  the 
pattern  showed  in  the  mount,  and  of  the  beautiful  significance  of  the 
office,  we  would  that  every  Presbyterian  church  connected  with  our 
General  Assembly  could  show  among  its  officers  a  band  of  deacons. 


26  HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 

Fourth.  Looh  upon  our  Zion  in  the  external  circumstances  that 
attended  its  outsetting. 

Two  public  events,  freighted  with  weighty  results,  and  by  no 
means  leaving  us  untouched,  followed  closely  ujwn  the  launching 
of  our  Sacred  Bark. 

One  of  these  was  the  terrible  financial  revulsion  of  1857.  The 
failure  in  the  month  of  xVugast,  1856,  of  the  Ohio  Life  and  Trust 
Company,  the  chief  office  of  which  was  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
coming  as  it  did  like  a  thunder-clap  out  of  a  clear  sky,  was  the  first 
explosion  of  a  series,  whose  echoes  at  length  reverberated  through 
the  land  till  scarce  a  financial  institution,  manufacturing  establish- 
ment, or  railway  company  but  had  its  flag  at  half-mast,  and  mul- 
titudes of  families  turned  pale  with  sudden  penury.  The  decline 
in  the  values  of  stocks  was  sudden  and  ruinous.  On  the  13th  of 
October  a  wild  panic  swept  the  country.  AVall  Street  was  choked 
with  panic-stricken  crowds  endeavoring  to  force  their  way  to  banks 
and  banking-houses,  which  were  compelled  to  close  their  doors  and 
announce  suspension  of  specie  payments.  Their  example  was  fol- 
lowed throughout  the  country.  Trade  was  almost  annihilated. 
"Whole  tribes  of  working-people  were  suddenly  cut  off  from  all 
means  of  winning  bread  for  themselves,  their  wives,  and  their  little 
ones.  The  distress  was  almost  like  that  of  Egypt  when  the  wail 
went  up,  "  There  is  not  a  house  in  which  there  is  not  one  dead." 

Philadelphia  had  her  full  share  of  suft'ering,  and  some  of  those 
on  Avhom  our  Zion  relied  for  the  means  to  meet  its  heavy  pecuniary 
liabilities  were  stripped  of  their  pecuniary  all,  thus  adding  heavily 
to  the  burdens  of  the  already  heavily  burdened  few.  This  wild 
gale  met  our  bark  as  she  went  out  of  port,  straining  her  timbers, 
tearing  her  sails,  but  her  flag  brave  hands  had  nailed  to  the  mast ! 

The  other  event,  in  some  respects  the  echo  and  antidote  of  this, 
was  the  Great  Religious  Awakening  of  1857  and  1858.  As  has 
been  already  said,  the  first  intimation  of  the  coming  tempest  was 
the  great  failure  in  August,  1856.  By  the  middle  of  September 
the  disturbance  had  reached  the  point  of  distress,  with  the  sky  full 
of  black,  angry  clouds.  On  the  23d  of  September  the  Fulton 
Street  Union  Prayer-meeting  was  o})ened  in  New  York,  and  so 
rapidly  did  interest  in  such  services  develop,  that  Dr.  S.  Irenreus 
Prime  assures  us  that  at  an  e:irly  period  as  many  as  one  hundred 


HISTOEICAL    DISCOURSE.  27 

and  fifty  such  prayer-meetings  were  held  daily  in  ±sew  York  and 
Brooklyn. 

On  the  3d  of  February,  1858,  the  first  Union  meeting  was  held 
in  this  city,  in  an  anteroom  in  Jayne's  Hall.  For  some  days  only 
twenty,  forty,  or  sixty  persons  attended.  Suddenly  the  number 
went  up  to  three  hundred,  and  it  was  resolved,  riot  without  trepi- 
dation, to  hold  the  next  meeting  in  the  large  hall.  The  hall,  with 
seats  for  twenty-five  hundred  people,  was  filled.  The  next  day 
the  curtain  was  drawn  away  from  the  stage  and  it  and  the  galleries 
were  filled.  The  next  day  the  partition  between  the  smaller  and 
larger  rooms  was  taken  down  and  the  hall  from  street  to  street 
thrown  open.  "  The  meeting,"  wrote  a  clergyman,  "  was  unpar- 
alleled in  the  history  of  any  city,  in  any  age,  wave  after  wave  pour- 
ing in  from  the  closet,  from  the  family,  from  the  church,  until  the 
great  tidal  or  tenth  wave  rolled  its  mighty  surge  upon  us,  swallow- 
ing up  for  the  time  all  separate  sects,  creeds,  denominations,  in  the 
one  great,  glorious,  only  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost !" 

The  wave  spread  from  one  end  of  the  republic  to  the  other.  In 
the  State  of  New  York  two  hundred  towns  reported  six  thousand 
conversions.  In  Chicago  more  than  two  thousand  people  were  at 
the  various  noonday  prayer- meetings.  The  whole  harvest  of  souls 
garnered  for  the  Lord  must  have  numbered  nearly  or  quite  four 
hundred  thousand ! 

It  was  under  the  gathering  clouds  of  this  terrible  financial  dis- 
tress on  the  one  hand,  and  amid  the  answering  glory  and  joy  of 
this  unprecedented  religious  awakening  on  the  other,  that  our 
spiritual  bark  set  forth  on  its  voyage  twenty-five  years  ago. 

Fifth.  Looh  nov;  upon  our  Zion  in  its  services  and  agencies. 

Besides  our  Sabbath  services  we  have  had  a  Wednesday  even- 
ing Lecture  and  a  Friday  evening  Prayer-meeting,  the  j)astor  con- 
ducting the  exercises  in  both.  The  suggestion  has  at  times  been 
made  to  combine  these  two  meetings  into  one,  and  hold  only  a 
midweekly  service.  But  the  affections  of  the  people  have  clung 
too  warmly  around  the  social  prayer-meeting  to  allow  of  its  dis- 
continuance. 

Our  communion  service  is  observed  once  in  three  months,  on 
Sabbath  morning,  after  a  sermon  appropriate  to  the  occasion. 
Just  before  the  administration  of  the  sacrament,  those  who  come 


28  HISTORICAL    DISCOURSE. 

to  it  for  the  first  time  rise  as  their  names  are  called  and  stand  in 
the  pews  assigned  tlieni  near  the  pnlpit,  while  the  pastor  reminds 
them  of  the  obligations  involved  in  their  application  for  and  admis- 
sion, by  a  vote  of  the  Session,  to  a  place  at  that  table ;  gives  them 
a  word  of  welcome  and  admonition,  and  also  reminds  the  people 
already  at  the  table  of  their  duty  to  these  newcomers  among  them. 

This  service  is  brief  and  solemn,  and  not  unfrequeutly  fraught 
with  spiritual  benefit  to  all. 

The  Ilonthly  Concert  is  observed  on  the  first  Wednesday  evening 
of  every  month.  At  this  meeting  standing  committees  report  upon 
different  missionary  fields,  and  these  reports  have  often  been  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  and  instructive. 

The  Sabbath-school. — Every  Christian  church  is  a  band  not 
only  of  worshippers,  but  of  workers  also.  And  of  the  many  fields 
that  lie  befoi-e  the  members  of  the  congregation  few  are  more  in- 
viting than  the  Sabbath-school.  In  our  day  it  concentrates  upon 
it  much  of  the  richest  talent  and  ripest  thought  in  the  Christian 
world,  and  as  often  as  the  Sabbath  Sun  drives  his  golden  chariot 
across  the  heavens,  he  looks  down  in  our  land  upon  some  seven 
millions  of  Sabbath-school  scholars  grouped  around  some  seven 
hundred  thousand  Sabbatli-school  teachers. 

In  June  of  the  year  1856,  ou*r  Sabbath-school  was  organized 
with  thirty-four  members,  and  placed  under  the  superintendence 
of  Professor  Hart.  This  office  he  continued  to  fill  until  September 
21st,  18G0,  when,  constrained  by  labors  increasing  beyond  his 
strength,  he  offered  his  resignation  to  the  Session.  His  resignation 
was  accepted,  and  Mr.  George  Junkin  was  appointed  in  his  place. 

On  November  21st,  18G6,  Mr.  Junkin  resigned,  to  take  charge 
of  the  young  ladies'  Bible  class,  which  service  he  has  since  eon- 
tinned  to  render,  and  Mr.  Henry  D.  Sherrerd  was  appointed  super- 
intendent. November  10th,  1875,  Mr.  Sherrerd  offered  his  resig- 
nation, and  Mr.  Frank  K.  Hippie  was  appointed  in  his  place. 

During  the  quarter  of  a  century  there  have  been  in  our  school 
four  superintendents,  one  assistant  superintendent,  267  teachers, 
and  2148  scholars.  Of  the  teachers  twenty-seven  have  come  from 
the  classes.  Of  the  61  scholars  in  the  school  at  the  close  of  August, 
1856,  one*  is  now  a  teacher,  and  one  other,f  who  entered  the 
school  two  or  three  sessions  after. 

*  J.  Howard  Breed.  f  Gustavus  S.  Benson,  Jr. 


HISTORICAL    DISCOURSE.  29 

The  school  has  never  been  in  a  more  flourishing  condition  than 
it  is  at  the  present  time.  It  embraces  46  teachers  and  officers,  318 
scholars — 364  in  all. 

The  collections  in  the  school  for  twenty-five  years  have  amounted 
to  more  than  $7000.  This  money  has  been  appropriated  partly 
to  the  support  of  a  child  in  a  mission  school  in  India,  partly  to 
assist  in  the  support  of  Mrs.  Nevius,  in  China ;  partly  to  aid  a 
student  for  the  ministry  in  our  own  church,  and  partly  to  other 
benevolent  purposes. 

The  number  of  additions  to  our  church  from  the  Sabbath-school 
since  the  year  1875,  before  which  we  have  found  no  statistics  on 
the  subject,  has  been  seventy-three;  besides  which  a  considerable 
number  have  united  with  other  churches,  with  which  their  parents 
were  connected. 

INIany  of  the  Sabbath-school  classes  are  organized  into  "  Bands," 
under  various  names,  some  of  them  working  for  some  poor  family 
in  the  church,  others  collecting  money  for  various  benevolent 
causes,  thus  at  a  very  tender  age  learning  how  much  more  blessed 
it  is  to  give  than  to  receive. 

The  fact  deserves  special  mention,  that  the  infant  class  in  our 
Sabbath-school  has  enjoyed  for  twenty-five  years  the  services  of 
the  same  faithful,  efficient,  and  beloved  teacher,  Mr.  Charles  O. 
Abbey. 

During  that  period  some  900  pupils  have  been  under  instruc- 
tion in  this  class.  For  fifteen  years  the  class  met  in  a  room  high 
up  in  one  of  the  towers  of  the  church.  But  in  the  year  1871,  the 
zeal  and  liberality  of  a  number  of  the  members  of  the  church 
built  for  this  class  a  beautiful  and  commodious  room  adjoining 
that  in  which  the  Sabbath-school  assembles,  and  another  room 
which  the  Young  Ladies'  Bible  Class  now  occupies. 

The  one  great  want  yet  remaining  to  make  our  Sabbath-school 
complete  in  its  appointments  is  a  room  on  the  same  floor  with  the 
rest  of  the  school  for  the  Young  Men's  Bible  Class.  Such  a  room 
would  be  a  very  appropriate  "  Ebenezer,"  with  which  to  mark  our 
entrance  upon  the  second  quarter-century  of  church-life. 

An  efficient  Sabbath-school  association,  of  which  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  Sabbath-school  is  president,  holds  stated  meetings 
to  discuss  the  interests  of  the  Sabbath-school,  and  urge  forward 
measures  for  the  increase  of  its  efficiency  and  usefulness. 


30  HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 

It  has  established  a  Sabbath-scliool  Mnseuin  for  tlie  collection 
of  objec^ts  from  Syria  and  Palestine  which  may  illustrate  the  word 
of  God,  and  also  from  the  great  missionary  field,  to  awaken  and 
foster  the  interest  of  our  young  people  in  the  conversion  of  the 
world  to  the  blessed  Saviour. 

The  Dorcas  and  Missionary  Society. — Within  a  few  years  the 
church  at  large  has  come  to  the  consciousness  of  a  force  long  resi- 
dent within  her,  the  energy  of  which  was  unsuspected,  even  the 
existence  of  which  was  almost  unknown.  This  is  the  brain-force, 
heart-force,  and  sanctified  will-force  of  her  devout  womanhood. 
The  disclosure  and  practical  employment  of  this  force  has  formed 
almost  an  era  in  the  beneficent  work  of  the  church,  and  promises  a 
harvest  of  results,  the  richness  and  magnitude  of  which  our  arith- 
metic cannot  compute. 

One  of  the  first  forms  in  which  it  embodied  itself  and  entered 
the  field  of  action  was  that  of  the  Dorcas  and  Missionary  Society. 

The  object  that  called  it  into  play  was  one  peculiarly  adapted 
to  evoke  the  sympathies  and  arouse  the  energy  of  woman.  This 
was  the  family  of  the  home  missionary,  in  its  toils  and  self-denial, 
and  not  uufrequently  its  cruel  hardships.  To  relieve  those  hard- 
ships, and  to  cheer  the  missionary  household,  women  have  assem- 
bled week  by  week  in  bands  scattered  through  the  church,  to  pre- 
pare clothing  and  other  articles  of  comfort,  and  send  them  to 
the  needy,  with  their  prayers  and  benedictions.  Work  more  kindly 
and  Christly  could  not  be.  And  in  blessing  others  they  have  them- 
selves been  blessed.  Co-operation  in  such  societies  cultivates  social 
intercourse  and  kindly  feeling  among  members  of  the  same  church, 
and  thus  leads  to  a  most  hapj^y  and  heaUhy  development  of  the 
true  spirit  of  our  holy  religion. 

In  this  church  the  Dorcas  and  Missionary  Society  was  organized 
November  13th,  1857.  The  records  of  the  society  in  its  earlier 
years  are  not  sufficiently  full  to  enable  us  to  present  complete  and 
accurate  statistics  of  work  and  contributions.  But  during  the 
quarter  of  a  century  this  society  has  sent  to  the  toilers  in  the  home 
mission  field  sixty-nine  boxes  filled  with  clothing,  and  a  great 
variety  of  other  things  conducive  to  the  comfort  of  a  missionary 
family.  Some  of  these  boxes  have  contained  goods  to  the  value 
of  .^00,  and  the  value  of  all  the  gifts  of  this  society  thus  far  can- 
not be  less,  is  probably  considerably  more,  than  §17,000. 


HISTOEICAL    DISCOURSE.  31 

In  addition  to  this,  thousands  of  garments  have  been  given  to 
children  in  the  Sabbath -school,  and  for  several  years  contributions 
of  money  and  clothing  have  been  sent  to  the  Presbyterian  Hospital. 

The  Woman^s  Missionary  Society. — While  the  domestic  mission- 
ary has  been  remembered,  the  foreign  missionary  has  not  been  for- 
gotten. 

The  West  Spruce  Street  Auxiliary  to  the  Woman's  Foreign 
INIissionary  Society  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized 
December  12th,  1870. 

The  object  of  this  society  is  to  aid  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
in  spreading  the  gospel  among  the  women  and  children  in  heathen 
lands.  The  society  selected  for  its  missionary  Mrs.  John  L.  'Ne- 
vius,  of  Chefoo,  China,  pledging  her  a  salary  of  $350  a  year.  This 
it  has  always  been  able  to  raise.  Any  surplus  above  this  sum  has 
been  sent  to  Mrs.  Nevius  for  her  special  work  in  schools. 

The  aggregate  collections  of  this  society  since  its  organization 
have  amounted  in  all  to  §4634.03.  This  includes  .$420  contributed 
in  twelve  years  by  the  "Infant-school  Band"  and  §20  by  the 
"Perseverance  Band." 

The  Sewing-schooL — In  addition  to  our  work  among  the  children 
on  the  Sabbath  day,  a  sewing-school  was  organized  in  1871.  It 
meets  during  the  winter  on  Saturday  mornings  in  the  Sabbath- 
school  room. 

The  main  object  of  the  school  is  to  instruct  the  pupils  in  needle- 
work, and  thus  fit  them  for  usefulness  in  homes  where  the  struocffle 
for  bread  leaves  the  mother  too  little  time  for  woi"k  upon  the  gar- 
ments of  the  household. 

The  school  is  opened  with  prayer,  and  attention  is  given  at  every 
session  to  the  singing  of  gospel  hymns  and  to  the  memorizing  of 
passages  from  the  word  of  God.  Thus  we  have  here  another  of 
the  many  happy  devices  of  our  day  for  serving  the  Master  and 
beguiling  souls  to  him. 

The  Young  People^ s  Prayer-meeting. — This  is  another  means  of 
grace  which  deserves  special  mention.  It  is  held  through  most  of 
the  year  in  the  evening,  one  half-hour  before  the  hour  of  church 
service.  It  affords  an  excellent  opportunity  for  the  cultivation 
among  our  young  men  of  the  gifts  and  graces  of  speaking  for 
Christ,  and  of  leading  others  in  prayer,  and  thus  growing  into 
fitness  for  more  public  work  in  the  cause  of  the  Master. 


32  HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 

And  not  nnfrequently  has  the  heart  of  the  pastor  been  cheered, 
ju.<t  before  the  opening;  of  service  on  a  Sabbath,  by  a  message  from 
that  cluster  of  praying  ones  : 

"We  have  had  an  excellent  meeting,  the  number  in  attendance 
large,  and  the  spirit  of  God  powerfully  with  us." 

Happy  is  the  church  that  has  in  its  bosom  any  considerable 
number  of  zealous,  consistent,  praying  young  men ! 

The  Young  Mcn^s  Association. — This  association  numbers  over 
thirty  members.  It  aims  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  all  the 
young  men  in  the  church  and  assign  them  to  committees  for  such 
branches  of  church  work  as  may  suit  their  several  tastes  and  abili- 
ties. Among  these  committees  are  the  Committee  on  the  Young 
People's  Prayer-meeting,  the  Committee  of  Ushers,  etc.  The  re- 
sult has  been  the  secureraent  of  at  least  twenty  young  men  to  lead 
in  the  prayer-meetings  who  did  not  before  engage  in  this  service, 
a  large  increase  of  interest  in  the  young  people's  prayer-meeting, 
and  also  of  that  kindly  social  feeling  so  favorable  to  the  best  in- 
terests of  a  church. 

The  City  Missionary. — One  more  agency  remains  to  be  men- 
tioned. The  one  great  duty  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  expressed 
in  the  command  of  Jesus,  uttered  on  the  eve  of  his  ascension : 
"Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preifch  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 

Facts,  numerous  and  startling,  testify  that  fulfilment  of  this 
command  is  by  no  means  reached  in  the  sending  of  missionaries 
into  distant  fields,  at  home  and  abroad,  and  in  the  erection  of 
church  edifices  and  organization  of  churches,  and  in  clustering 
about  them  the  agencies  above  enumerated  and  described.  For, 
when  all  is  done  that  can  be  done  through  these  agencies,  hundreds 
of  thousands  remain  unreached.  Nor  is  there  any  prospect  that 
the  gospel  will  be  preached  to  every  creature  except  through  some 
agency  that  goes  from  door  to  door,  from  household  to  household, 
from  person  to  person. 

To  multitudes  of  these  neglecters  of  religion  the  minister  of  the 
gospel  has  no  access;  and,  were  access  easy  and  free,  he  neither 
possesses  the  strength  nor  could  he  spare  the  time  for  the  task. 
This  work,  if  done  at  all,  must  be  done  by  persons  fitted  for  and 
entirely  given  to  it. 

Such  is  the  work  done  in  our  cities  by  the  city  missionary.  His 
heart  full  of  love  for  souls  and  zeal  for  the  Master's  glory,  the 


HISTOEICAL,   DISCOURSE.  33 

Bible  in  one  hand  and  the  reli<2:ious  book  or  tract  in  the  other, 
self-denying  in  spirit,  resolute  of  will,  persistent  in  season,  out  of 
season,  he  goes  from  door  to  door  to  preach  the  truth,  invites  to 
Jesus,  and  kneels  in  prayer  for  the  blessing  of  God  upon  the 
household. 

For  a  little  upwards  of  eight  years  Mr.  John  Potter  was  em- 
ployed by  this  church  in  this  kind  of  evangelistic  labor. 

From  records  kept  by  him  we  learn  that  during  that  period  he 
made  25,920  visits,  preaching  the  gospel  from  house  to  house. 
More  than  24,000  prayers  were  offered  with  the  members  of  these 
families.  In  each  an  appropriate  tract  or  book  was  left.  Bibles 
and  testaments  were  furnished  to  those  who  were  without  them. 
Large  numbers  of  the  sick  were  visited  and  many  funerals  at- 
tended.    Cottage  prayer-meetings  were  also  held. 

Some  400  persons  were  hopefully  converted,  who  united  with 
different  evangelical  churches.  Many  households  were  induced  to 
set  up  family  worship.  About  250  scholars  were  led  to  attend 
one  or  another  of  different  Sabbath-schools.  A  considerable  num- 
ber of  men  were  reclaimed  from  drunkenness. 

In  the  meetings  held  by  Mr.  Moody,  our  missionary  conversed 
in  the  inquiry  room  with  120  persons.  Often  he  followed  the 
inquirers  to  their  homes  and  there  conversed  and  prayed  with 
them. 

At  the  request  of  the  laborers  in  the  Gas  Works,  at  Twenty- 
third  and  Market  streets,  for  ten  weeks,  every  day  at  noon,  he  met 
with  and  conducted  worship  among  them. 

The  value  of  the  service  thus  rendered  to  the  cause  of  our  blessed 
Jesus  we  have  no  means  of  computing.  For  ourselves  we  regard 
it  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  agencies  employed  by  our  church. 

Mr.  Potter  continued  to  labor  in  this  field  till  the  year  of  his 
death.  During  one  of  his  visits  in  July,  1878,  he  fell  to  the  floor, 
and  for  a  considerable  time  lay  insensible.  The  month  of  August 
found  him  at  the  house  of  his  son  in  Darlington,  Beaver  County, 
Pa.,  where,  on  the  28th  of  the  month,  he  breathed  his  last,  full  of 
years  and  ripe  for  heaven. 

Sixth.  Looh  upon  our  Zion  as  a  Giver. 

God,  as  Creator,  is  absolute  proprietor  of  all  things.     And  with 

3 


34  HISTORICAL.   DISCOURSE. 

articulate  voice  does  lie  clmllcnge  liis  right  of  proprietorship. 
"All  the  earth  is  mine,"  saith  the  Lord.  "All  souls  are  mine! 
The  silver  is  mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine."  And  one  of  the  effects 
of  religion  on  the  heart  is  to  work  a  recognition  of  this  proprietor- 
ship of  God  and  induce  men  to  give  back  at  least  a  part  to  him  of 
■what  is  his  own. 

During  the  past  twenty-five  years  the  congregation  worshipping 
in  this  place  has  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord  as  follows: 

Home  missions,          ........  §46,785 

Foreign  missions, 24,222 

Education, 21,476 

Publication,       .........  11,336 

Church  erection, 22,047 

Freedmen, 8,885 

Ministerial  relief, 1,749 

Sustentation, 1,132 

Presbyterial, 3,823 

Congregational, 220,845 

Miscellaneous, 58,215 

Total, ^426,515 

To  this  is  to  be  added  the  princely  legacy  of  Mr.  INIorris  Patter- 
son of  1^30,000  to  build,  at  the  discretion  of  our  trustees  as  to  time 
and  place,  a  memorial  church  in  memory  of  a  beloved  and  only 
daughter,  INIary  Patterson. 

The  original  cost  of  this  edifice  was  about  $88,000,  and  with 
subsequent  additions  and  improvements  has  demanded  an  outlay 
of  over  $100,000.  All  pecuniary  claims  upon  the  church  have 
been  met,  and  it  rejoices  in  an  entire  freedom  from  debt. 

Now,  while  on  the  one  hand  I  have  no  right  to  say  of  any  one, 
"You  have  given  as  much  as  you  might  have  given  and  ought  to 
give/'  on  the  other,  knowing  what  I  do  of  the  trials  and  struggles 
of  men  under  the  financial  embarrassments  of  the  times,  and  of 
the  process  of  incessant  giving  on  the  part  of  so  many,  I  promise 
you  that  my  voice  will  never  be  heard  in  stigmatizing  God's  people 
as  close-handed  and  penurious. 

Seventh.  Loolc  upon  our  Zion  in  its  Harvestings. 

While  the  history  of  our  church  thus  far  has  been  marked  by 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  35 

none  of  those  mighty  spiritual  movements  that  remind  us  of  the 
clay  of  Pentecost,  yet  these  years  have  not  passed  without  seasons 
of  intense  spiritual  interest. 

The  following  narrative  from  the  records  of  our  Session  tells  a 
story,  many  points  in  wliich  some  of  you  will  quickly  recognize: 

"At  our  communion,  December,  1869,  but  one  person  appeared 
upon  profession  of  faith  to  acknowledge  our  Lord  at  the  feast. 
That  service  had  been  preceded  by  a  prayer-meeting  in  the  session- 
room.  It  was  very  solemn,  and  there,  as  we  afterwards  found, 
impressions  were  made  which  ripened  into  hopeful  conversions. 
That  very  day  Mr.  H.  D.  Sherrerd,  one  of  our  most  faithful  and 
efficient  elders,  was  taken  sick,  and  for  a  long  time  lay  in  a  very 
critical  condition.  Previously  one  of  our  elders  and  one  of  our 
deacons  had  each  lost  a  beloved  child,  and  now  cases  of  sickness 
came  thick  and  fast.  Another  of  our  elders  lost  a  darling  child, 
an  only  daughter,  wdio,  however,  before  being  taken  sick,  expressed 
faith  and  hope  in  the  Lamb  of  God,  The  people  began  to  feel 
that  the  Lord  was  sorely  chastising  them,  and  prayer  was  multi- 
plied for  relief  and  spiritual  blessing.  Under  these  solemn  cir- 
cumstances we  appointed  a  series  of  meetings  for  each  evening  of 
the  week,  beginning  February  21st.  The  Rev.  J.  L.  With  row 
preached  the  first  sermon  on  'Christ  Seeking  the  Lost  Sheep.' 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Wiswell,  the  second, '  When  He  Saw  Him  Afar  Off.' 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  Reed,  the  third,  on  'One  Thing  Thou 
Lackest.'  The  Rev.  Dr.  Herrick  Johnson,  the  fourth,  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  day  of  prayer  for  colleges,  on  'The  Spirit  and  the  Bride 
say  Come.'  The  Rev.  R.  M.  Patterson,  the  fifth,  on  'He  Made 
Haste  and  Came  Down.'  These  sermons  were  followed  by  others. 
One,  on  the  evening  of  the  28th,  by  Rev.  J.  W.  Dale,  D.D.,  of 
Media,  on  'Remember  Me  when  Thou  Comest  into  Thy  King- 
dom.' 

"  March  1st,  we  held  a  prayer-meeting  profoundly  solemn,  at 
the  close  of  wliich  we  kneeled  and  prayed  in  silence,  during  which 
sobs  were  heard  in  many  parts  of  the  house. 

"  March  2d,  a  sermon  was  preached  by  Dr.  Willits.  On  the 
7th,  Dr.  George  D.  Boardman  preached  on  'Jacob  at  Bethel.' 
Friday,  11th,  was  spent  in  fasting  and  prayer.  A  meeting  was 
held  in  the  morning  at  11  o'clock,  and  another  in  the  evening 
at  7.30. 


36  HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 

"March  14th,  Dr.  J.  AVheaton  Smith  preached  on  'Almost 
Thou  Pcrsnadest  me  to  be  a  Christian.'  March  15th,  a  sermon 
was  preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  J.  B.  Dales  on  *  Salvation  is  from  the 
Lord.'  On  tlie  16th,  the  Rev.  A.  D.  L.  Jewett,  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, preached  on  'Lovest  thou  Me?'  and  on  the  18th,  the  Rev. 
W.  E.  Schenck,  on  'How  long  halt  ye?' 

"  These  services  were  attended  by  large  and  deeply  solemnized 
audiences.  Each  service  was  preceded  by  a  prayer-meeting  of 
half  an  hour  for  a  blessing  on  the  preacher  and  the  congregation. 
Our  Christian  people  were  deeply  moved,  and,  in  frequent  in- 
stances, visited  their  unconverted  friends  and  neighbors,  and  con- 
versed with  them  about  their  souls'  salvation.  Earnest  and 
frequent  prayers  went  up  for  the  unsaved. 

"  The  pastor  received  several  notes  from  church  members 
pledging  a  more  faithful  service.  The  calls  of  inquirers  at  the 
'study'  were  numerous.  The  young  men,  of  their  own  accord, 
began  a  prayer-meeting,  whicli  increased  its  numbers  from  nine  to 
upwards  of  thirty.  Profound  interest  attended  their  meetings,  and 
deep  impressions  were  made. 

"On  Sabbath,  March  20th,  1870,  our  regular  communion  day, 
bright  without  and  bright  within,  thirty  persons,  most  of  them 
yonng  men  and  women,  stood  up  and  confessed  their  Saviour 
before  angels  and  men.  One  of  the  most  cheering  features  of  the 
occasion  was  the  closing  up  of  at  least  four  of  our  family  circles 
in  faith  around  this  Christian  family  table.  The  hour  was  one 
lono;  to  be  remembered.  In  the  evening  the  lecture-room  was 
crowded  with  a  warm-hearted  throng,  and  profound  feeling  was 
visible  in  the  prayers,  exhortations  and  songs  of  praise. 

"The  Session  records  with  profound  gratitude  its  appreciation 
of  the  kind  services  of  our  brethren  in  the  ministry  who  brought 
to  us  those  warm,  loving  and  powerful  messages  from  the  Lord. 
May  other  communion  days  yet  come  to  us  which  shall  eclipse 
even  this  in  the  fulness  and  intensity  of  its  harvcstage.     Amen." 

In  Dr.  Boardman's  quarter-century  discourse  we  learn  that 
during  the  twenty-five  years  of  his  pastorate  one  thousand  and 
sixty-eight  members  were  added  to  the  communion-roll  of  the 
Tenth  Church,  or  an  average  accession  of  nearly  eleven  at  each 
one  of  the  one  hundred  communions.  How  it  would  gratify  his 
heart  to  know  that  so  closely  had   the  blessing  enjoyed  by  the 


HISTORICAL   DISCOUHSE.  37 

mother  followed  the  daughter,  that  almost  precisely  the  same 
number  had  been  added  during  a  period  of  equal  length  to  the 
communion-roll  of  our  Zion!  To  our  original  thirty-four  there 
have  been  added  at  our  ninety-nine  communions  ten  hundred  and 
forty-eight, — five  hundred  and  forty-eight  on  examination,  and 
five  hundred  by  certificate. 

Of  those  admitted  to  the  church  on  confession  of  faith,  some 
were  young,  and  some  old  and  gray-headed,  and  many  of  them  in 
middle  life.  Some  were  fathers  going  home  from  the  communion- 
table to  assume  the  headship  of  their  households  at  the  family 
altar,  and  day  after  day  to  plead  with  heaven  for  blessings  on  all 
the  members.  Some  were  mothers;  and  if  ever  the  air  gleams 
with  flashes  from  the  silver  wings  of  the  rejoicing  angels,  it  is 
when  a  woman  goes  home  to  her  children  from  the  house  of  God 
and  enters  her  doors  for  the  first  time  a  Christian  mother.  Some 
were  ]3recious  children,  each  one  adding  another  to  the  praying 
forces  in  the  household  in  behalf  of  the  rest.  In  quite  a  number 
of  instances  the  convert  has  been  the  last  one  of  the  circle  out  of 
Christ,  the  keystone  let  into  the  arch  of  family  bliss  and  glory. 

Of  those  at  one  time  or  another  in  communion  with  us  Rere, 
five  have  been  ordained  to  preach  the  everlasting  gospel,  and  are 
now  doing  good  service  in  the  cause ;  and  one  of  them  has  heard 
the  sigh  from  fixr  off  India's  shores,  and  has  answered  : 

"  Yes,  I  will  go  !     I  may  no  longer  doubt 
To  give  up  friends  and  idol  Iiopes, 
And  every  tie  that  binds  my  heart 
To  thee,  my  country. 

And  if  one  for  whom 
Satan  hath  struggled,  as  he  hath  for  me, 
Should  ever  reach  that  blessed  shore !     Oh,  how 
Tills  heart  will  flame  with  gratitude  and  love !" 

And  to-day,  while  we  worship  here  at  the  junction  of  the  Dela- 
ware and  the  Schuylkill,  our  beloved  brother,  the  Rev.  Francis 
Heyl,  is  laboring  efficiently  and  cheerfully  at  the  junction  of  the 
Ganges  and  the  Jumna. 

Three  of  our  present  number  are  under  the  care  of  Presbytery 
as  candidates  for  the  ministry,  and  I  trust,  and  am  sure,  that  there 
are  in  our  families  other  sons  consecrated  by  parental  prayer  to  the 
glorious  work  of  preaching  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 


38  HISTORICAL    DISCOURSE. 

When  the  pinnacles  of  our  Zion  began  to  glimmer  with  the  rays 
of  the  morning,  they  were  first  swept  by  a  financial  tempest,  and 
then  gilded  by  the  great  religious  awakening.  Years  rolled  on, 
and  the  thunders  of  an  awful  civil  convulsion  rent  the  air;  and 
during  its  continuance  we  met,  time  and  again,  in  this  church  under 
a  nightmare  of  distress  and  apprehension.  Early  in  the  struggle 
one  of  our  noble-spirited  young  men,  Edwin  F.  Scott,  was 
brought  home  in  his  cofifiu.  Another,  a  brave  officer,  Boyd  Cum- 
mings,  Lieutenant-Commander  of  the  Steamer  Richmond,  struck 
with  a  ball  as  they  were  passing  the  batteries  of  Port  Hudson,  was 
brought  home  in  his  shroud  to  his  young  widow,  who  followed 
him  broken-hearted  to  the  grave.  And  all  through  the  war 
more  or  fewer  of  our  choice  young  men  were  away  on  the  field, 
and  we  knew  that  any  moment  the  word  might  reach  us  that  bay- 
onet, bullet,  or  rending  shell  had  laid  them  among  the  slain.  And 
there,  too,  was  the  country  of  our  love  and  pride,  in  jeopardy  of 
disruption  into  antagonistic  fragments,  with  "Ichabod"  written 
over  its  portal,  the  mockery  of  all  who  hated  us.  Again  and 
again,  and  still  again,  during  those  dark  years,  did  we  assemble 
for  fasting  and  prayer  to  God  that  he  Mould  save  the  Union  and 
save  our  boys,  and  silence  the  horrid  din  of  war ! 

Following  the  close  of  the  civil  war  and  the  firm  compacting 
of  the  National  Union  came  another  event  in  which  our  church 
most  heartily  participated, — the  Reunion  of  the  two  great  branches 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Preceding  and  heralding  that  union 
came  that  memorable  convention  in  the  church  of  Dr.  Wylie,  in 
Broad  Street  near  Spruce.  Sweet  are  the  memories  of  that  con- 
vention. Some  of  us  well  remember  how  bright  the  sun  shone  on 
that  Noveuiber  mornino;  when  the  convention  first  came  too;ether. 
Representatives  from  all  the  various  branches  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  land  were  there.  The  most  indifferent  could  not 
but  see  by  the  crov/ds  that  swarmed  along  the  sidewalks  toward 
the  place  of  meeting  that  some  great  event  was  casting  its  shadows 
before. 

When  the  convention  met,  the  end  of  tlie  movement  was  a  matter 
of  profound  uncertainty.  Very  serious  misgivings  were  enter- 
tained by  many  of  its  M'isest  and  ablest  members  as  to  any  happy 
outcome  from  the  meeting.     Flowever,  during  a  meeting  for  de- 


HISTORICAL    DISCOUESE.  39 

votional  exercises,  Ruling  Elder  Robert  Carter,  of  New  York, 
leading  in  prayer,  was  so  obviously  moved  by  the  Spirit  of 
Holiness,  his  utterances  were  so  full  of  unction,  and  such  was  the 
effect  of  the  prayer  upon  the  people,  that,  at  its  close,  it  is 
hardly  too  much  to  say  that  the  question  of  union  was  virtually 
settled.  The  powerful  influence  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  INlusgrave  in 
bringing  the  union  to  a  consummation  no  one  Avill  question,  and 
he  himself  tells  us  that  before  the  meeting  of  the  convention  he 
had  very  little  hope  of  any  practical  good  from  it ;  "  but,"  as  he 
frankly  said,  "  at  the  close  of  R<ibert  Carter's  prayer  I  found  my- 
self filled  with  joy  and  hope,  and  I  believe  we  now  see  the  way 
clear  to  a  glorious  union  in  our  Presbyterian  Zion." 

These  words  were  spoken  at  the  closing  meeting  of  the  conven- 
tion held  in  this  church, — a  meeting  not  to  be  forgotten  by  those 
who  participated  in  it.  It  was  pervaded  with  a  fervency  and  an 
unction  that  gave  a  foretaste  of  what  we  shall  enjoy  after  the  final 
Reunion  of  all  the  ransomed  around  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb. 

As  the  one-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  Republic  drew  near,  the 
Presbyterian  Church  resolved  to  signalize  the  occasion  by  recalling 
to  the  attention  of  their  own  peoj)le,  and  as  far  as  possible  of  the 
people  of  the  land,  the  part  that  Presbyterians  had  taken  in  creat- 
ing and  in  giving  character  to  the  Republic.  So  prominent  was 
that  part  that  Mr.  Galoway,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  denounced 
the  Avhole  revolution  as  a  Presbyterian  movement.  The  "  Sons  of 
Liberty,"  in  the  city  of  New  York,  went  by  the  name  of  the 
"Presbyterian  Junto."  Mr.  Bancroft  writes:  "The  first  voice 
publicly  raised  in  America  to  dissolve  all  connection  with  Great 
Britain  came,  not  from  the  Puritans  of  New  England,  nor  from 
the  Dutch  of  New  York,  nor  from  the  ^jlanters  of  A'^irginia,  but 
from  the  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians."  In  the  Congress  that  created 
this  republic  there  was  just  one  clergyman,  a  thorough  going  Pres- 
byterian, who  in  his  person  ably  represented  the  combined  Presby- 
terianism  in  the  land.  It  will  not  be  questioned  that  in  that  hour 
when  the  fate  of  the  colonies  was  trembling  in  the  balance,  his  elo- 
quent voice  told  mightily  for  the  cause  of  independence.  Nor  will 
it  be  questioned  that  in  the  even  more  solemn  and  difficult  question 
of  national  organization  his  influence  was  of  incalculable  value. 


40  HISTORICAL   DISCOUESE. 

When  then  the  one-hundredth  birthday  of  the  Republic  drew 
nigh  it  was  tliought  a  just  and  wise  thing  to  remind  the  world  of 
these  services  rendered  by  Presbyterianism.  Dr.  Henry  C.  IMcCook 
suggested  in  the  Presbyterian  a  statue  to  the  great  Presbyterian 
advocate  of  independence,  John  Witherspoon.  That  suggestion 
caught  the  eye  of  your  pastor.  He  called  the  attention  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Boardnian  to  it,  whose  earnest  and  warm  response  settled  the 
success  of  the  project.  But  for  his  cordial  interest  in  the  matter 
and  his  influence  as  the  months  rolled  on,  that  work  had  never 
been  done.  However,  without  any  seeking  of  his  own,  the  whole 
of  the  loorh  fell  upon  your  pastor.  By  exchanging  pulpits  on 
Wednesday  evenings  and  on  the  Sabbath  days,  and  working  during 
his  summer  vacations,  he  presented  the  subject  in  more  than 
seventy  pulpits  from  Roslyn,  Long  Island,  on  the  east,  to  Steuben- 
ville,  Ohio,  on  the  west,  and  in  ten  Synods  and  Presbyteries.  Ex- 
cepting the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York,  of  which 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Paxton  is  pastor,  this  church,  besides  through  its 
pastor,  doing  all  the  work,  contributed  also  by  far  the  largest 
amount  of  money  to  this  enterprise.  The  closing  discourse  on  the 
life  and  character  of  Witherspoon  was  delivered  in  this  church  on 
Sabbath  evening,  the  22d  of  October,  1876,  by  the  venerable  and 
now  sainted  Dr.  Plumer.  And  that  great  statue  stands  in  that 
beautiful  park  as  chiefly  the  work  of  this  West  Spruce  Street 
Church. 

One  more  memorable  public  event  is  in  no  small  degree  asso- 
ciated with  our  Zion,  I  mean  the, late  Council  of  the  Presbyterian 
Alliance.  Yearnino;s  for  such  a  council  had  been  felt  in  the 
Presbyterian  heart  for  generations.  Scattered  coals  blaze  when 
they  are  brought  together.  More  than  three  hundred  years  ago 
the  great  Calvin  wrote  that  he  would  readily  pass  over  ten  seas  to 
meet  in  council  with  representatives  of  the  great  churches  of  re- 
formed Christendom.  And  in  the  autum  n  of  last  year  there  gathered 
in  this  city  a  council  representing  some  twenty  or  thirty  millions 
of  Presbyterians,  from  all  the  continents  and  many  of  the  islands 
of  the  sea,  in  an  assemblage  that  for  talent,  sound  doctrine,  and 
piety  has  hardly  had  its  superior  since  the  First  Great  Council  in 
Jerusalem.  The  success  of  that  council  was  a  theme  of  universal 
delight  and  admiration.     In  it  our  Zion  was  represented  by  two 


HISTOEICAL   DISCOURSE.  41 

members  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly;  on  the  committees 
intrusted  with  its  most  vital  interests  this  church  was  represented 
by  three  members  ;  in  contributions  this  church  far  exceeded  any 
other,  as  it  did  also  in  the  number  of  guests  it  entertained,  and  by 
far  the  largest  individual  donation  to  its  funds  came  from  the 
princely  liberality  of  one  of  our  ruling  elders;*  and  it  is  only  saying 
what  is  not  only  universally  but  most  cordially  acknowledged,  that 
in  no  small  degree  the  golden  success  of  the  council  was  due  to  the 
wisdom,  personal  influence,  self-sacrificing  and  untiring  diligence 
of  another  of  its  ruling  elders,  George  Jimkin,  Esq. 

In  conclusion  :  Since  the  organization  of  this  church,  twenty- 
five  Decembers  have  flung  their  frost  over  the  land,  and  as  many 
Junes  have  hung  the  rose-clusters  around  us.  On  we  have  come 
through  financial  panic,  and  into  and  through  the  nightmare  of  a 
dreadful  and  protracted  civil  war. 

The  spirit  of  harmony  which  presided  at  the  birth  of  our  church 
has  ever  since  hovered  over  it  as  the  angel  of  peace.  I  believe  I 
am  not  in  error  when  I  say  that,  as  yet,  neither  in  the  board  of 
trustees  nor  in  the  session  of  the  church,  has  there  been  a  divided 
vote.  Not  that  there  has  not  been  decided  difference  of  opinion, 
but  such  has  been  the  dominant  spirit  of  conciliation,  that  the  mi- 
nority has  always  been  willing  to  yield  to  the  majority  and  make 
the  vote  unanimous.  And  the  same  spirit  has  marked  the  his- 
tory of  the  congregation.  From  some  cause  or  other,  discordant, 
mischievous,  wrangling  spirits  have  instinctiv^ely  avoided  us,  and 
those  we  have  been  permitted  to  receive  from  other  churches  have 
come  breathing  the  same  spirit  of  kindliness  and  affection  that 
has  from  the  first  nestled  among  us. 

Nor  has  the  choir  that  has  led  us  in  our  songs  of  praise  proved 
any  exception  to  the  general  rule. 

We  have  heard  that  discords  sometimes  occur  even  amono^  musi- 
cians,  and  we  have  heard  of  schisms  between  the  choir  and  the 
pulpit,  and  between  the  choir  and  the  congregation. 

But  if  in  our  choir,  during  these  twenty-five  years,  there  has  been 
any  trouble,  it  must  have  been  of  a  very  quiet  sort,  for  rumor  of 
it  has  never  reached  this  end  of  the  church. 

And  I  must  be  permitted   to  say,  and  in  saying  it  I  speak  the 

*  Gustavus  S.  Benson. 


42  HISTORICAL  DISCOURSE. 

deep  convictions  of  a  grateful  heart,  that  Trustees  of  greater  intelli- 
gence, zeal,  and  efficiency,  Ruling  Elders  of  purer  motives,  higher 
aims,  judgment  more  sound  and  fidelity  more  true,  and  Deacons 
better  fitted  for  their  office  in  kindliness  of  spirit  and  untiring  dis- 
charge of  duty,  than  those  who  have  held  place  in  our  church  from 
the  beginning  until  now,  have  seldom,  if  ever,  blessed  any  church 
in  our  land. 

Of  the  1082  members  at  one  time  or  another  seated  at  our  com- 
munion tabic,  104  are  seated  now  on  the  steps  of  the  throne  of 
God  and  the  Lamb. 

Of  the  nine  Ruling  Elders  who  in  the  course  of  years  have  as- 
sisted in  distributing  the  bread  and  the  wine  at  our  communion 
table,  four  have  put  off  the  mortal  to  put  on  immortality.  The 
first  to  be  called  from  us  was  Daniel  L.  Collier,  Esq.  He  had 
been  one  of  the  first  to  take  me  by  the  hand  on  my  arrival  at 
Steubenville,  Ohio,  and  a  truer  friend  no  one  ever  had.  Coming 
to  Philadelphia  almost  at  the  same  time  with  myself,  he  became 
an  elder  in  this  church.  He  was  an  able  lawyer,  the  law-j)receptor 
of  the  distinguished  Secretary  of  War,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  an  ac- 
complished gentleman,  and  a  devout  Christian.     His  death  was 

one  of  those  of  which  the  poet  sings: 

* 
"  How  blest  the  righteous  when  he  dies  ! 
When  sinks  a  weary  soul  to  rest ! 
How  mildly  beam  the  closing  eyes, 

How  gently  heaves  tlie  expiring  breast ! 
So  fades  a  summer  cloud  away  ! 

So  sinks  the  gale  when  storms  are  o'er  ! 
So  gently  shuts  the  eye  of  day  ! 
So  dies  a  wave  along  the  shore  ! " 

The  next  to  leave  our  world  was  Professor  John  S.  Hart,  a  man 
of  fine  natural  gifts,  of  high  intellectual  culture,  of  great  adminis- 
trative powers,  and  an  efficient  church  officer.  The  tliird  to  be 
taken  was  Mr.  Morris  Patterson,  a  man,  take  him  all  in  all,  whose 
like  we  do  not  often  see.  Polished  in  manner,  devout  in  spirit, 
regarded  with  affectionate  respect  by  the  whole  communit}^,  he  was 
taken  from  us  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  His  death  was  a  trans- 
lation, and  a  whole  community  mourned  for  him.  The  last  to  go 
was  one  much  less  widely  known,  Lucius  Barrows.  Those,  how- 
ever, who  did  know  him  knew  that  few  better,  purer,  more  godly 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  43 

men  ever  blessed  our  world.  We  can  still,  in  fancy,  see  him  in 
his  accustomed  place  in  that  lecture-i'oom  and  hear  the  quiet  flow 
of  thought  "issuing  from  a  heart  that  had  fed  upon  and  digested 
the  M'ord  of  God. 

From  the  number  of  our  Deacons,  also,  God  has  taken  one,  Mr. 
Charles  Henry  Grant.  I  was  with  him  to  counsel  him  during  the 
earlier  days  of  a  somewhat  remarkable  religious  experience.  I 
was  with  him  as  he  faded  away  on  the  bed  of  death.  I  had  abun- 
dant reason  to  esteem  and  love  him  as  a  man,  as  a  wise  father,  a 
faithful  husband,  and  a  sincere  Christian. 

It  is  a  glory  to  any  church  to  be  represented  in  heaven  by  five 
such  church  officers. 

Of  the  thirty-four  members  composing  our  church  at  the  time 
of  its  organization,  fifteen  have  gone  to  their  long  home.  Two 
yet  remain  in  our  circle,  Dr.  llilborne  West  and  his  wife,  Mrs. 
Susan  E.  West,  and  long  may  they  be  spared  to  us. 

Singleton  A.  Mercer,  Mrs.  Martha  Bullock, 

Mrs.  Maria  Mercer,  Mr.  John  Bayneton, 

Mrs.  Caroline  F.  M.  Irabrie,  Mr.  Edward  Miller, 

John  R.  Vogdes,  Mrs.  JNIaria  Black, 

Benjamin  Hutchinson,  Mrs.  Emeline  Heist, 

William  Waft,  Mrs.  Catharine  E.  Lind, 

Mr.  John  S.  Hart,  Mr.  Morris  Patterson, 

and  Mrs.  Mary  Patterson. 

Of  these,  the  one  without  whom  this  church  had  hardly  been 
built  was  Singleton  A.  Mercer.  How  definitely  his  fine  figure, 
crowned  with  that  snow-white  head,  lies  pliotographed  upon  many 
of  our  memories.  He  was  among  the  first  with  whom  I  became 
acquainted  in  this  city.  He  pledged  to  me  his  personal  friendship, 
and  with  characteristic  fidelity  he  kept  his  word.  Of  purest  integ- 
rity, of  loftiest  aims,  of  large  liberality,  he,  with  a  few  kindred 
spirits,  responded  to  the  suggestion  of  his  pastor  to  build  a  house 
to  the  Lord,  and  rested  not  until  this  pile  lifted  its  walls  and 
pointed  its  spire  toward  the  skies. 

But  many  are  the  afflictions  of  the  righteous.  Crushing  sorrow 
over  the  loss  of  an  only  son  broke  him  down,  and  on  a  foreign 
shore,  whither  he  had  gone  in  cjuest  of  health,  he  laid  him  down 
and  died.     Peace  and  honor  to  his  ashes ! 


44  HISTOEICAL   DISCOURSE. 

A  scene  in  the  last  hours  of  one*  of  this  cherished  Thirty-four 
was  too  remarkable  and  touchingly  suggestive  to  be  omitted  in 
this  record.  The  end  was  drawing  near.  Night  came,  and  often 
during  the  night  the  daughter,  watching  by  her  side,  noticed  her 
arm  extended  and  her  hand  lying  open  on  the  pillow,  and  once  or 
twice  drew  the  arm  gently  beneath  the  cover,  only  to  see  it  soon 
replaced  in  its  former  position.  In  the  morning,  when  questioned 
for  the  reason  of  this,  she  replied  that  she  had  wished  to  pray,  but 
feeling  too  feeble  to  control  her  thoughts,  she  held  out  her  open 
hand  to  her  Heavenly  Father,  well  assured  that  he  would  know 
her  meaning. 

Of  those  who  came  to  us  after  the  period  of  our  organization 
and  left  us  for  the  church  above,  one  or  two  must  be  mentioned. 
One  of  these  was  Mr.  John  E.  Gould,  so  long  the  leader  of  our 
music,  and  author  of  some  of  the  sweetest  music  we  yet  sing. 

Well  do  I  remember  the  communion  season,  at  the  close  of 
which  I  grasped  his  hand  as  he  stood  close  to  that  pillar  weeping 
and  shaking  with  emotion,  and  heard  this  vow  from  his  lips:  "If 
God  will,  this  shall  be  the  last  communion  I  will  allow  to  pass 
without  taking  my  seat  at  that  table;"  and  he  kept  his  word. 

Warm  of  heart  and  generous  of  spirit,  he  not  only  freely  gave 
to  the  church  years  of  service  as  organist  and  leader  of  our  music, 
but  his  purse  was  ever  open  at  the  call  of  the  church,  whether  for 
contributions  to  her  benevolent  and  missionary  enterprises,  or  to 
meet  necessary  congregational  expenses. 

But  shall  we  mention  the  lofty  and  forget  the  lowly?  There 
was  that  poor  hunchbacked  German  girl  in  our  Sabbath-school,  so 
feeble  as  to  be  unable  to  reach  the  school  without  repeatedly  stop- 
ping on  the  way  to  rest  awhile  on  this  or  that  doorstep,  yet  almost 
invariably  there.  In  that  school  she  found  sorrow  for  sin,  and 
there  she  found  the  peace  that  passeth  understanding ;  and  then, 
in  that  lone  chamber,  upon  that  narrow  bed,  after  a  most  painful 
sickness,  accompanied,  however,  by  a  religious  experience  so  rich 
and  brilliant  as  to  draw  from  her  wealthy  and  accomplished  teacher 
the  expression  of  a  willingness  to  change  places  with  the  poverty- 
stricken  sufferer,  she  left  that  poor  deformed  body  and  went  to 
heaven  to  bless  God  that  this  church  vine  had  been  planted  here. 

*  Mrs.  Martha  Bullock. 


HISTORICAL   DISCOUESE.  45 

And  shall  we,  can  we  forget  the  infant  jewels  unclasped  from 
our  breasts  to  be  clasped  to  the  breast  of  Jesus  in  the  skies? 

"  A  babe  in  glory  is  a  babe  forever, 
Perfect  as  spirits  and  able  to  pour  forth 
Their  glad  liearts  in  the  tongues  which  angels  use. 
These  nurslings  gathered  in  God's  nurseiy 
Forever  grow  in  loveliness  and  love." 

Heaven  wanted  them,  though  the  earth  could  hardly  spare  them. 

And  now  if  God  has  made  this  church  organization  his  steward 
to  put  into  his  treasury  more  than  four  hundred  thousand  dollars ; 
if,  led  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  work  has  been  prosecuted  in  the  Sunday- 
school,  Dorcas,  Missionary,  and  other  societies,  has  he  not  made 
our  Zion  a  Sunny  Mount? 

And  if  over  those  five  hundred  and  forty-eight  souls,  each  one 
of  them  of  more  value  than  ten  thousand  times  this  world,  were  it 
one  entire  and  perfect  chrysolite,  the  angels  have  exulted  as  truly 
converted  to  God;  and  if  each  of  the  remaining  five  hundred  has 
at  one  time  or  another  received  some  upward  impulse;  and  if 
many  a  transient  worshipper  has  borne  away  impressions  that  have 
ripened  into  a  better  life,  has  not  God  made  our  Zion  a  Sunny 
Mount? 

And  if  one  hundred  and  four  emancipated  spirits  have  gone  to 
heaven  from  our  communion  table,  and  there  exult  in  joy  unspeak- 
able and  full  of  glory,  hath  not  God  made  our  Zion  a  Sunny 
Mount? 

And  in  those  hundreds  of  seasons  of  worship  in  this  place,  where 
consolation  has  poured  balm  upon  wounded  hearts,  doubts  have 
been  removed,  hopes  burnislied,  and  joys  intensified,  and  in  those 
ninety-nine  communion  seasons  in  which  we  have  bowed  in  solemn 
consecration  and  re-dedication  of  ourselves  to  God,  has  not  God 
made  our  Zion  a  Sunny  Mount? 

Profoundly  conscious  of  our  weakness,  our  sin,  and  our  unfaith- 
fulness, yet  profoundly  thankful  for  all  the  goodness  and  mercy  of 
God,  we  can  sing  with  full  hearts : 

"  I  love  thy  kingdom,  Lord, 
The  house  of  thine  abode, 
The  church  our  blest  Redeemer  saved 
With  his  own  j)recious  blood." 


46  HISTORICAL   DISCOUESE. 

And  the  future,  how  well  we  know  it.  A  brief  period  of  alter- 
nating work  and  rest,  peace  and  anxiety,  sorrow  and  joy,  health 
and  sickness,  pleasure  and  pain. 

"And  wlien  tlie  work  is  done, 
When  the  last  soul  is  won, 
When  Jesus'  love  and  power 
Have  cheered  ihe  dying  hour; 
Oh  !  then  the  crown  is  given, 
Oh  !  tlien  the  rest  in  heaven  ! 
Endless  life  in  endless  day, 
Sin  and  sorrow  passed  away." 

The  following  are  at  this  time  the  officers  of  our  church : 

Pastor.— The  Eev.  William  P.  Breed,  D.D.,  258  South  Sixteenth  Street. 

Ruling  Elders. — George  Junkin,  Henry  D.  Sherrerd,  Gustavus  S.  Benson,  and 
John  D.  McCord. 

Deacons. — Charles  O.  Abbey,  Frank  K.  Hippie,  and  Albert  G.  Heyl,  M.D. 

Clerk  of  Session. — Gustavus  S.  Benson. 

Treasurer  of  Session. — Henry  D.  Sherrerd,  1934  Spruce  Street  and  5  Exchange 
Building. 

Board  of  Trustees. — Gustavus  S.  Benson,  President.  Charles  O.  Abbey,  Secre- 
tary. Henry  D.  Sherrerd,  Treasurer.  Edward  P.  Borden,  James  Spear,  George 
B.  Collier,  Henry  C.  Fox,  John  D.  McCord,  Henry  Maule,  Albert  F.  Damon, 
Geoi-ge  Junkin,  Joseph  S.  Patterson,  Frank;  K.  Hippie,  R.  Dale  Benson,  Eobert 
S.  Davis. 

Officers  of  the  Sabbath-school  Association. — Frank  K.  Hippie,  President.  Henry 
D.  Sherrerd  and  Gustavus  S.  Benson,  Vice-Presidents.  Louis  F.  Benson,  Treas- 
urer. Charles  I.  Junkin,  Secretary.  Frank  K.  Hippie,  Sabbath-school  Superin- 
tendent.   R.  Dale  Benson,  Assistant  Sabbath-school  Superintendent. 

Teachers— Male:  George  Junkin,  Charles  O.  Abbey,  R.  Dale  Benson,  Charles 
S.  Boyd,  Gustavus  S.  Benson,  Jr.,  Louis"  F.  Benson,  Charles  B.  Grant,  James 
Ealston  Grant,  W.  Atlee  Burpee,  James  Johnston,  Eobert  Scott,  John  II.  Black, 
William  Henry  Grant,WiIliara  P.  Breed,  Jr.,  James  McKinley,  J.  Howard  Breed. 

Teachers— Female  :  Miss  Ellen  A.  McCurdy,  Miss  Susan  D.  McCord,  Miss  Ella 
McCord,  Miss  Mary  B.  Smith,  Miss  JMattie  E.  Heyl,  Miss  E.  Anna  Breed,  Miss 
Caroline  T.  Embley,  Mrs.  Virginia  Laws,  Miss  Lizzie  Elliott,  Miss  Sophie  B. 
Grant,  Miss  Emily  C.  Gratz,  Miss  Ella  Gratz,  Miss  Nettie  N.  Scott,  Miss  Lidie 
D.  Stuart,  Miss  Lizzie  L.  Stewart,  Miss  Louise  W.  Junkin,  Miss  Lutie  G.  Dale, 
Miss  Annie  M.  Grant,  Miss  Margie  D.  Abbey,  Miss  Mattie  Johns. 

Charles  I.  Junkin,  Secretary.  George  Junkin,  Jr.,  Librarian.  Frank  B.  Ab- 
bey and  Alexander  Scott,  Assistant  Librarians. 


CHILDREN'S  CELEBRATION 


OF  THE  DAY, 


3.30    O'CLOCK,    P.M. 


CHILDREN'S  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  DAY. 


At  the  celebration  in  the  afternoon  the  Sabbath -school,  in  whose 
behalf  this  portion  of  the  anniversary  services  had  been  specially 
set  apart,  occupied  the  pews  in  the  front  centre  of  the  church,  on 
either  side  of  the  main  aisle. 

Frank  K.  Hippie,  Esq.,  Superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school, 
presided  and  conducted  the  exercises. 

At  3.30  o'clock  P.M.  the  programme  was  initiated  with  the 
"  opening  sentence :" 

The  Lord  is  in  His  holy  temple : 

Let  all  the  earth  keep  silence  before  Him.  {Ileh.  2 :  20.) 

Supplication,  Chant,  Recitation,  and  Hymn. 

The  Rev.  Prentiss  De  Veuve,  in  an  earnest  prayer,  supplicated 
the  divine  blessing,  after  which  the  Lord's  Prayer  was  chanted 
by  children  and  congregation,  and  the  programme  proceeded  with 
in  the  following  order : 

THE    lord's    prayer. 

1.  Our  Father,  wliich  art  in  heaven,  | 

hallowed  |  be  thy  |  name.|| 
Thy  kingdom  come.     Thy  will  be  done  in  | 
earth,. ..as  it  |  is  in  |  heaven.  || 

2.  Give  ns  this  |  day  onr  |  daily  |  bread. || 
And  forgive  us  our  debts,  as  | 

we  for-  I  give  our  |  debtors. || 

3.  And  lead  us  not  into  temptation, 

but  de-  I  liver  |  us  from  |  evil.|| 
For  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power, 
and  the  glory,  for-  |  ever.  |  A-  |  men  || 
4 


50      children's  celebration  of  the  day. 


RECITATION. 

A  nd  He  led  tlieni  forth  by  the  right  way,  that  they  might  go  to  a  city  of  habi- 
tation. {Ps.  107:7.) 
Q  uiet  habitations — a  tabernacle  tliat  shall  not  be  taken  down.  (7s.  33:  20.) 
U  ntil  now  I  have  sojourned  and  stayed  there.  ( Gen.  32 :  4.) 
A  cconiplishiiig  the  service  of  God.  {Heb.  9:  16.) 
R  ejoicing  always  before  Him.  (Prov.  8  :  30.) 
T  wenty-and-five  years  in  Jerusalem.  (1  Kings  22 :  42.) 
E  stablished  in  the  faitli,  and  increased  in  number  daily.  (Acts  16:5.) 
Remember  ye  not  tlie  former  things,  neither  consider  the  things  of  old?  {Is, 

43:18.) 
C  ontinue  Thy  loving  kindness  unto  them  that  know  Thee.   {Ps.  36  :  10.) 
E  stablish  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us ;  yea,  the  work  of  our  hands  establish 

Thou  it.  (Ps.  90:17.) 
N  ow  therefore,  O  God,  strengthen  ray  hands.  {Neh.  6 :  9.) 
T  ake  not  Thy  holy  spirit  from  me.  ( Ps.  51 :  11.) 

U  phold  me  according  unto  Thy  word  that  I  may  live.  (Ps.  119: 116.) 
R  emember  Thy  congregation  which  Thou  hast  purchased  of  old.  (Ps.  74:  2.) 
y  ield  yourselves  unto  the  Lord,  and  enter  into  His  sanctuary  which  he  hath 
sanctified  forever,  and  serve  the  Lord  your  God.  (2  Chron.  30:  8.) 

TWENTY-FIFTH    ANNIVERSARY   HYMN. 

(Written  for  the  occasion  by  Louis  F.  Benson.) 

Shepherd  of  this  flock,  how  loving 

Hath  Thy  tender  guidance  been ; 
By  so  stilly  waters  leading 

Througli  Thy  pastures  stretching  green: 
Now  to  Thee,  the  ever  faithful 

And  unchanging  for  so  long, 
We  would  lift  our  thankful  voices 

In  this  Anniversary  Song. 

Beautiful  this  day,  and  holy. 

With  the  thought  that  we  have  come 
Five-and-twenty  marches  onward. 

By  a  road  that  points  toward  home. 
Here  we  rest.  Thy  flock  enfolded 

In  Thine  arms,  our  wayside  inn ; 
And  each  heart  to  each  gives  greeting 

Ere  to-moiTow's  march  begin. 

Some  have  fallen,  they  the  weary, 

Fallen  down  beside  the  way : 
Lord,  we  loved  them,  and  we  miss  them 

From  our  company  to-day. 
Thou  wast  by  them.  Thou  the  Shepherd, 

On  Thy  bosom  Thou  didst  bear 
Our  companions  who  were  weary, 

To  Thy  fold,  and  hast  them  there. 


childeen's  celebratiox  of  the  day.      51 

They  are  with  Thee,  and  their  foces 

Like  the  stars  are  smiling  down : 
They  are  with  Thee ;  we  shall  find  them 

"When  like  them  we  gain  the  crown. 
Then  to  Thee,  the  ever  loving 

And  unchanging  for  so  long, 
We  shall  join  with  them  in  singing 

Some  new  Anniversary  Song. 

The  Chairman  (Superintendent  Hippie) — Children  :  In  respect 
to  the  next  order  of  the  programme  I  need  only  say  you  will  need 
no  introduction  whatever  to  him  who  has  been,  as  well  to  our 
school  as  to  our  church,  "our  first  and  only  pastor." 

Dr.  Breed  promptly  responded  to  the  call  in  the  following 
remarks : 

Address  by  the  Pastor. 

When  the  eye  of  a  pastor  rests  upon  the  Sabbath-school,  he 
always  sees  two  very  interesting  objects,  the  band  of  teachers  and 
the  clusters  of  scholars.  In  the  persons  of  the  teachers  he  always 
sees  those  of  whose  sympathy  he  is  thoroughly  confident,  and  this 
partly  because  his  and  their  offices  are  so  much  alike.  The  Sab- 
bath-school teacher  is  a  preacher  and  a  pastor.  Pie  takes  the  word 
of  God  and  opens  it  to  the  mind  and  the  heart  of  the  class.  Thus 
the  Sabbath-school  teacher  is  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  and  a 
preacher  to  a  congregation  that  can  hardly  fail  to  take  the  mes- 
sage home  to  themselves.  Ordinarily,  in  a  large  congregation, 
people  distribute  the  lessons  among  their  neighbors,  and  say  this 
is  for  that  man,  and  that  is  for  this  woman,  but  in  the  little  con- 
gregation before  the  Sabbath-school  teacher,  each  hearer  must  take 
the  matter  to  himself  or  herself. 

Then  there  is  a  pastoral  work  connected  with  the  Sabbath-school 
class  which,  when  ])roperly  pressed,  is  very  effective.  Those  visits 
that  teachers  make  to  the  class  are  highly  appreciated,  and  they 
produce  a  marked  impression.  Not  unfrequently  I  go  into  a 
family  and  hear  it  said,  with  sparkling  eyes,  "  The  Sabbath-school 
teacher  was  here  yesterday."  Thus  the  work  is  that  of  the  preacher 
and  the  pastor. 

I  repeat  that  among  the  laborers  of  the  Sabbath -school  the 
pastor  knows  that  he  has  sympathy  ;  and,  speaking  from  my  own 
experience,  I  can  say  I  know  that  in  any  work  that  is  to  be  done 


52  children's   (CELEBRATION   OF  THE   DAY. 

and  wliich  teachers  can  do,  I  am  sure  of  their  co-operation  when- 
ever the  call  is  made. 

Then  there  is  the  great  band  of  children  in  the  Sabbath-school, 
to  each  of  whom  the  pastor's  heart  is  necessarily  and  powerfully 
drawn.  How  he  loves  to  see  the  children  comino-  earlv, — comins; 
when  they  are  little, — and  offering  themselves  to  the  Saviour  ! 

In  looking  over  the  Sabbath-school  now  before  me,  and  remem- 
bering some  of  the  marvellous  things  of  the  quarter  century  just 
closed,  I  am  thinking  of  what  may  come  to  pass  in  the  course  of 
another  twenty-five  years  in  the  lives  of  the  dear  children  here' 
assembled.  Twenty-five  years  hence — 1906  I  think  that  will 
be, — it  is  not  impoasible  that  one  of  these  boys  before  me  will  be 
standing  in  this  pulpit  preaching  the  Gospel  to  this  congregation. 
Certainly  that  is  not  impossible  nor  improbable.  So  to  is  it  quite 
possible  that,  twenty-five  years  from  this  time,  some  of  these  boys 
may  be  away  off  in  India,  preaching  there  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ.  So  too  it  is  possible  that  in  twenty-five  years,  from 
among  those  boys  whom  I  now  see  before  me,  there  will  be  some 
away  out  in  those  western  lands,  in  some  region  where  they  have 
hardly  as  yet  heard  the  Gospel,  toiling  for  and  building  up  the 
church  of  the  living  God.  Why  anything  and  everything  that 
pertains  to  individual  advancement  and  greatness  is  possible  here, 
in  this  America  of  ours,  in  the  course  of  twenty-five  years.  Indeed 
I  do  not  know  but  that  I  am  now  addressing  some  future  James 
A.  Garfield.  How  can  I  ignore  the  possibility  that  twenty-five 
years  hence  or  at  some  more  remote  period  one  of  these  boys  before 
me  this  afternoon,  may  be  sitting  in  the  chair  in  yonder  White 
House,  and  ruling,  as  President  over  a  nation  of  sixty  or  seventy 
millions  of  people ! 

My  friends,  I  think  we  ought  to  bear  these  things  in  mind  when 
we  are  before  these  little  ones,  for  in  them  we  have  the  future  in 
the  present.  We  may  have  a  Mayor  of  this  city,  a  Governor  of  this 
commonwealth,  and  a  President  of  this  land,  in  the  multitudes 
now  gathered  within  these  Sabbath  Schools.  And  I  say  to  you, 
children,  you  will  find  twenty-five  years  hence,  if  you  live  until 
then,  that  the  ruling  power  in  the  State  and  the  ruling  power  in 
the  nation  is  constituted  from  among  men  who  are  not  infidels,  who 
are  not  atheists,  who  are  not  the  bad  or  the  wicked  of  the  times, 
but  who  are  those  who  in  this  day,  and  at  the  present  time,  were 


children's  celebratiox  of  the  day.      53 

in  our  Sabbath-schools,  in  our  churches,  and  in  our  congrega- 
tions. There  is  a  good  deal  of  wickedness  in  the  world,  but 
God  is  stronger  than  wickedness,  and  God's  people  rule  the  world 
to-day ! 

I  must  not  occupy  much  of  your  time,  but  I  rose  to  say  that 
now,  when  we  are  upon  the  threshold  of  a  new  twenty-five  years, 
we  can  hardly  help  looking  forward,  and  looking  around  us,  and 
looking  backward  over  the  twenty-five  years  that  have  just  elapsed. 
The  occasion,  I  suppose,  would  be  a  proper  one  for  me  to  give  you 
some  reminiscences  connected  with  your  school  in  the  period  just 
ended,  to  tell  you  how  many  have  come  to  confess  the  Saviour 
before  men ;  how  many  have  gone  from  beds  of  death  up  to 
thrones  of  glory,  but  I  will  not  detain  you  with  more  than  two  or 
three  passing  allusions  to  incidents  of  interest,  which  carried  wdth 
them  practical  lessons  of  great  value.  Some  yeai^s  ago  it  was  the 
custom  in  the  school,  as  you  know,  to  issue  tickets  to  the  scholars. 
We  gave,  for  instance,  one  blue  ticket  every  Sabbath  for  attend- 
ance, so  many  blue  tickets  for  proficiency  in  a  lesson,  and  so  on  ; 
a  certain  number  of  these  entitling  the  holder  to  one  red  ticket,  and 
then  six,  or  ten,  or  twenty  red  tickets,  as  the  case  might  be,  secured 
the  gift  of  a  book.  In  one  of  the  classes  was  a  little  girl,  who 
needed  one  more  blue  one  to  entitle  her  to  a  red  ticket ;  and  this, 
with  what  she  had,  would  entitle  her  to  a  book.  Looking  rather 
uneasy  upon  coming  to  the  school  on  Sabbath  morning,  her  teacher 
asked  her  :  "  What  is  the  matter,  Annie  ?"  "  Well,  teacher,"  she 
replied,  "you  said  if  we  asked  God  for  anything,  and  asked  him 
again  and  again,  in  faith.  He  would  give  it  to  us.  Now,  I  wanted 
another  blue  ticket,  and  I  knelt  down  by  the  chair  in  my  room, 
and  prayed,  and  prayed,  and  prayed  to  God,  that  he  would  turn 
one  of  my  blue  tickets  red,  and  he  did  not !"  "  Well,"  the  teacher 
replied,  "  God  answers  prayer  in  the  way  that  he  thinks  will  be  the 
best  for  us.  He  has  led  you  to  pray  that  one  of  those  tickets  may  be 
turned  into  a  red  one,  and  he  has  led  you  to  tell  me  of  it.  Now, 
give  me  one  of  those  blue  tickets,  and  I  will  give  you  a  red  one  for  it. 
Now  your  prayer  is  answered.  We  are  not  to  expect  God  to  perform 
a  miracle,  when  he  can  do  what  we  ask  for  in  this  simple  way." 
Thus  the  child  learned  a  beautiful  lesson  of  the  way,  in  which  God 
answers  prayer.     He  gives  us  not  what  ^ve  think  we  need  or  desire. 


54      children's  celebration  of  the  day. 

but  what  we  would  desire,  if  we  knew  what  we  did  need,  in  just 
his  own  way,  and  it  comes  all  the  better  for  us,  when  it  comes  in 
God's  way. 

Another  of  the  many  incidents  that  occur  to  me  was  that  of  a 
teacher  who  was  in  terrible  spiritual  distress.  I  never  saw  greater 
darkness  of  mind  than  that  under  which  that  teacher  was  suffering. 
She  came  to  me  in  the  study  there,  where  we  had  a  long  talk,  and 
then  knelt  in  prayer.  As  she  took  her  departure  she  said,  "  I  am 
going  home  and  am  going  to  pray  until  the  light  comes,  if  I  do  not 
rise  from  my  knees  until  the  morning,"  On  the  next  morning  T 
received  a  note  from  her,  saying,  "  I  prayed  all  night  long,  and  my 
heart  is  as  dark  as  ever,"  By  and  by  I  received  another  letter 
from  her  in  which  she  wrote,  "  Ah,  victory !  I  feel  as  did  Napo- 
leon at  Austerlitz.  That  little  boy  from  a  Roman  Catholic  family, 
who  was  sick,  of  whom  1  told  you,  whom  I  visited  and  with 
whom  I  have  prayed  and  talked,  has  gone  to  heaven  with  clear  evi- 
dence that  he  is  saved,  and  I  have  been  the  means  of  his  conver- 
sion— the  darkness  is  gone!"  God  did  not  answer  her  prayer 
when  she  prayed  all  night  for  that  blessing,  but  He  put  it  into  her 
heart  to  go  and  be  His  instrument  in  saving  that  boy,  and  the 
light  came!  It  is  a  very  interesting  and  instructive  lesson,  withal. 
Don't  think  too  much  about  self  pr  about  your  own  condition. 
Go  and  save  a  soul !  Having  done  that  you  will  feel  that  in 
having  made  you  an  instrument  for  the  salvation  of  a  soul  God 
has  recognized  you  as  one  of  his  own  children. 

In  conclusion  I  would  simply  make  two  observations,  one 
directly  to  the  teachers,  the  other  directly  to  the  scholars.  To  the 
teachers  I  would  say.  Be  willing  to  work  away,  to  toil  and  labor 
on,  even  though  you  do  not  promptly  see  the  result  of  your 
labors.  You  may  be  very  sure  that  God  knows  what  you  are 
doino;.  God  wants  these  souls,  and  God  will  take  care  of  the  seed 
you  put  in  the  ground.  You  have  often,  I  have  no  doubt,  heard 
of  that  woman  in  Strasburg,  who,  in  her  quiet  room,  laboriously 
worked  away  with  a  chisel  at  a  piece  of  stone  until  she  had  given 
it  the  shape  of  a  beautiful  ornament,  and  then  she  brought  it 
to  the  architect  of  the  great  cathedral  in  course  of  erection  there 
and  charged  him  to  work  it  into  the  masonry  of  the  cathedral 
steeple,  specially  enjoining  him  to  place   it  high  up  towards  the 


childeen's  celebration  of  the  day.      55 

stars.  "  Wliy,"  the  architect  said,  "  nobody  will  ever  see  it  up 
there.  The  people  cannot  see  a  beautiful  little  object  like  that  if 
it  be  so  far  away  up  in  the  air."  "  I  know  that,"  she  replied, 
"but  God  and  the  angels  will  see  it."  So,  too,  I  would  have  you 
reflect  when  you  are  doing  this  good  work,  that  no  matter  who 
may  or  may  not  see  it,  God  and  the  angels  see  the  work  you  are 
doing,  and  they  will  appreciate  the  value  of  the  beautiful  stone 
that  you  work  into  the  wall  of  His  beautiful  cathedral. 

Upon  you,  ray  children,  there  is  one  thing  that  I  would  urge, 
and  that  is,  whatever  is  given  you  to  do,  do  it  well.  If  it  be 
a  lesson  at  school,  try  to  get  it  thoroughly.  Sometimes  your 
teachers  may  assign  you  more  lessons  than  you  ought  to  be 
taxed  with,  and  in  such  cases  I  do  not  see  how  yon  can  master 
them  all  perfectly,  but  if  you  are  able  to  study  only  one  or  two 
of  them,  get  that  one  or  those  two  thoroughly.  That  old  artist, 
Joshua  Reynolds,  I  think  it  was,  when  painting  a  picture  to  go  to 
China,  was  remonstrated  with  for  expending  upon  it  as  much  care, 
deliberation  and  skill  as  if  it  were  destined  for  the  palace  of  a 
king,  and  he  was  told  that  his  work  would  not  be  appreciated  in 
a  country  like  China.  His  answer  was,  "I  cannot  do  anything 
but  my  best."  His  rule  of  action  was  the  proper  one  and  is  one 
that  should  be  adopted  by  each  of  you.  In  everything  you  un- 
dertake, do  "your  best."  Then  again,  among  those  messenger 
boys  dressed  in  uniform  whom  I  have  noticed  on  the  street,  I  re- 
member one  who  was  hurrying  on  as  if  anxious  to  get  his  letter 
delivered.  I  remember  another  who,  with  message  in  hand,  was 
loitering  along,  though  his  message  may  have  been  a  telegram 
telling  that  somebody  was  dying.  I  said  to  myself  "  that  first  boy 
will  make  his  way  in  the  world,  while  the  other  may  be  likened 
to  a  discarded  machine  that  is  good  for  nothing."  Those  boys 
and  girls  whose  chief  object  is  to  get  their  work  off  their  hands 
with  as  little  labor  as  possible  turn  out  generally  to  be  good  for 
nothing.  Resolve,  then,  in  everything  you  do,  to  do  the  very 
best  and  resolve  to  be  everything  that  you  are  capable  of  being, 
and  by  God's  help  you  will  by  and  by  be  more  than  you  ever  even 
dreamed  of  being.  You  know  not  what  is  in  you.  You  have 
been  created  in  God's  image.  No  one  can  tell  the  depth  of  the 
powers  of  mind  and  heart  that  are  capable  of  development  in  one 


56  cniLDREX's  CELEBRATION   OF  THE   DAY. 

of  these  little  children.  May  God  bless  you,  keep  you  and  smile 
on  you,  my  children,  and  bring  you  happily  to  the  end  of  the 
quarter  of  a  century  that  now  opens  before  you.  Some  of  us 
here  now  will  not  see  the  end  of  that  period,  nor  can  we  foresee 
who  will  then  stand  in  this  pulpit  or  who  will  then  occupy  these 
pews;  but  no  doubt  many  of  you  children  will  be  here.  God 
bless  you  and  conduct  you  on ;  and,  when  the  end  of  another 
twenty-five  years  has  been  reached,  may  no  boy  or  girl  now  here 
have  to  say,  "  I  have  wasted  my  time,  I  have  thrown  away  my 
opportunity ;  "  but  may  God  give  you  grace  to  so  live  that  you 
may  then  say,  "  I  have  done  what  I  could  in  God's  name  and 
with  God's  strength  helping  me  !  " 

The  next  order  of  the  programme  ^yas  the  following: 


TE   DEUM. 

1.  Cho. — We  praise  Thee,  we  bless  Thee!  Thou  who  only  art  divine; 

No  name  is  worthy  such  homage  as  thine ; 
Our  hearts'  adoration  forever  we  will  gladly  bring 
To  Thee,  our  Creator,  Eedeemer,  and  King. 
p  /To  meet  the  glad  echoes  our  voices  we  raise, 

I  And  join  with  our  souls  in  the  anthem  of  praise ; 
We  praise  Thee,  we  bless  Tltee !  Thou  who  only  art  divine. 
For  no  name  is  worthy  such  homage  as  Thine, 
q        /  With  angels  in  glory,  we  herald  the  story, 

I  Glad  tidings  of  joy  and  peace,  through  our  Saviour  and  King. 
Cho. — We  praise  Thee,  we  bless  Thee  !  Thou  who  only  art  divine ; 
No  name  is  worthy  such  homage  as  Thine ; 
Our  hearts'  adoration  forever  we  will  gladly  bring 
To  Thee,  our  Creator,  Redeemer,  and  King. 

2.  Cho. — We  praise  Thee,  we  bless  Thee,  etc. 


For  mercies  unnumbered,  for  tenderest  care, 
.  For  blessings  Thy  children  so  bount 
We  praise  Thee,  we  bless  Thee,  etc. 


\  For  blessings  Thy  children  so  bounteously  share  ; 


Q        /  Now  joyfully  blending,  with  rapture  ascending, 

I  Our  tribute  of  praise  to  Thee,  Blessed  Saviour  and  King. 
Cho. — We  praise  Thee,  we  bless  Thee  !  Thou  who  only  art  divine ; 
No  name  is  worthy  such  homage  as  thine ; 
Our  hearts'  adoration  forever  we  will  gladly  bring 
To  Thee,  our  Creator,  Eedeemer,  and  King. 

Hallelujah,  Hallelujah,  Hallelujah,  Amen. 
Hallelujah,  Amen,  Amen. 


children's  celebration  of  the  day.  57 

Upon  being  presented  by  Superintendent  Hippie,  Mr.  Macintosh 
spoke  as  follows : 

Address  by  Rev.  John  S.  MacIntosh. 

Dear  young  Friends  and  Christian  Teachers  :  You  will 
permit  me  just  to  say  at  the  opening,  that  my  tardy  arrival  was 
not  through  any  undue  procrastination  on  my  part,  but  was  owing 
to  my  delivering  an  address  at  Tabor ;  and  as  soon  as  that  neces- 
sity had  been  complied  with,  I  came  straight  here.  I  like  to  be 
punctual,  and  when  I  am  not,  I  like  to  have  you  and  others  know 
the  reason  why  I  come  in  late. 

There  is  to  me,  in  occasions  like  this,  something  that  is  peculi- 
arly tender,  touching,  and  tlirilling.  There  is  in  it  all  the  tender- 
ness of  a  family  union  ;  and  indeed  I  know  not  of  any  family  union 
that  is  more  close  and  sacred  and  precious  than  the  union  that 
grows  up  between  a  pastor  and  the  children  of  his  flock.  That 
thought  impresses  me  with  peculiar  force  just  at  present ;  for  of  all 
the  ties  that  I  was  compelled  to  break,  in  coming  away  from  that 
church  and  congregation  where  I  had  been  laboring  for  some 
years,  the  most  difficult  for  me  to  sunder  was  the  tie  that  bound  me 
to  my  Sabbath-school ;  and  as  I  went  before  the  children  of  that 
school,  on  the  last  evening  of  my  stay  with  them,  and  spoke  to  them 
with  difficulty  the  last  closing  words,  and,  after  the  school  was 
over,  the  children  gathered  about  me,  I  realized  something  of  the 
rich  tenderness  of  that  precious  occasion. 

It  is  wondrously  touching,  my  dear  teachers,  as  you  think  of  it, 
to  realize  that  in  a  few  years  these  dear  children  for  whom  we 
think  and  pray, — as  I  know  your  beloved  pastor  does  think  and 
pray,  and  has  prayed  and  thought  for  them  during  these  long  years 
wherein  the  Lord  has  blessed  him,  and  through  which  He  has 
brought  him  with  such  superabundant  goodness, — are  to  scatter  to 
and  fro.  There  is  something  marvellously  touching  in  the  thought. 
As  I  stand  here,  children,  and  look  at  you  this  day,  I  think  of  my 
lads  and  lassies,  those  whom  I  taught  for  a  few  years  in  the  Sab- 
bath-school, and  hoped,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  somewhat  to 
influence.  And  now  they  are  scattered  over  this  broad  Union, 
and  scattered  to  the  four  ends  of  the  earth, — some  away  down  in 
the  Australasian  Islands,  some  in  the  far  North,  while  sotoe  have 


58  children's  celebration  of  the  day. 

gone  home  before  me.  There  is  something  strange  and  thrilling 
in  it  all  as  we,  pastors  and  teachers,  reflect  that  God  is  putting  into 
our  hands  these  youthful  hearts  just  when  we  can  most  easily  draw 
from  them  the  new  song  of  INIoses,  that  old  servant  of  God,  and 
of  the  Lamb.  Oh,  how  thrilling  it  is  for  us  to  think  of  the  blessed 
opportunities  that  God  is  giving  to  us  in  the  persons  of  these  His 
dear  ci'eatures ! 

But  some  peculiar  thoughts  suggest  themselves  as  I  look  across 
this  school  this  afternoon  and  remember  that  this  is  an  anniversary 
time.  What  do  I  mean  by  that?  You  know  what  your  review 
days  arc  in  the  school.  They  are  days  when  you  mentally  retrace 
your  steps,  and  think  of  the  work  you  have  done,  and  of  what  it 
means.  Is  not  that  largely  the  idea  of  this  happy  gathering ;  one 
in  which  I  joy  and  rejoice  with  you  all,  and  with  none  more  than 
with  my  dear  friend  here  [turning  to  Dr.  Breed],  who  is  the  centre 
of  the  occasion,  and  "may  the  king  long  live!"  What,  then,  is 
the  mcanino;  of  this  review?  The  thought  suo-crostcd  bv  the 
query  is,  I  think,  one  that  finds  most  forcible  expression  in 
likening  the  occasion  to  a  retrospect  of  the  work  of  the  gardener  in 
producing  a  valuable  garden  or  beautiful  landscape.  In  front  of 
the  old  parsonage  in  which  I  spent  some  years  of  hard  labor  but 
of  great  joy,  there  was  spread  crut,  as  I  used  to  think,  the 
brightest  bit  of  green  earth  that  ever  greeted  mortal  eye,  and  one 
that  could  not  have  been  surpassed  even  in  the  Emerald  Isle  itself. 
There  Avent  murmuring  and  meandering  through  it  a  sweet-look- 
ing stream  that  seldom  froze  in  winter,  even  in  the  hardest,  which 
sang  its  rippling  songs  all  through  the  hottest  days  of  summer, 
and  was  ofttimes  in  sleepless  nights  a  comfort  and  a  joy.  One  of 
those  who  had  gone  before  me  in  the  pastorate  of  that  congrega- 
tion had  planted  the  banks  of  that  stream  full  of  violets  and  hardy 
odorous  plants,  and  had  studded  all  across  the  green  of  that  par- 
sonage early  spring  flowers  and  beauteous  plants  that  came  up  and 
bloomed  in  the  summer  and  the  autumn  time.  As  from  time  to 
time,  in  the  morning  and  in  the  evening,  a  breath  odorous,  laden 
with  sweetness,  was  blown  from  those  banks  of  violets,  and 
especially  wlien,  after  a  sultry  day  of  summer,  there  came  the 
sweet  fragrance  of  a  thousand  flowers,  fresh  breathed  upon  you  from 
the  bright  lips  of  those  tender  products  of  the  green  earth,  I  men- 
tally exclaimed,  "  Here  we  have  indeed  a  picture  of  what  a  pastor's 


children's  celebration  of  the  day.      59 

or  a  teacher's  life  ought  to  be."  The  teacher,  like  the  pastor,  ought 
to  leave  behind  him,  for  those  who  may  follow  after  him,  sweetness, 
beauty,  joy.  That  is  exactly,  as  it  seems  to  me,  what  your  dear 
pastor  has  been  striving  for,  and  I  know,  in  some  measure  at  least, 
— for  such  has  been  the  result  of  my  observations  even  during  the 
few  days  I  have  been  here, — he  has  not  striven  ineffectually.  I 
want  you,  my  dear  young  friends,  to  think  of  this  (for  you  are 
growing  up  full  of  the  sweetness  of  Christian  children),  in  order 
that,  wherever  you  are,  the  sweet  breath  of  Christ's  love  and 
Christ's  untiring,  tender  sympathy  may  be  going  out  from  you ; 
that  you  may  ever  exhibit  the  fresh,  bright  beauty  of  those  who 
have  been  made  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus ;  and  that  every 
spot  whereon  you  may  be  found  shall  be  brighter,  more  cheery, 
more  homelike,  more  Edenic,  more  like  the  paradise  of  God,  be- 
cause some  of  Christ's  bright-growing  flowers  are  found  there. 
Oh,  how  I  long  that  you  may  be  made  new  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and,  having  the  sweetness  of  God's  love  in  your  hearts,  may  be 
witnesses  to  others  that  one  of  Christ's  gardeners  has  been  planting 
this  spot  of  the  Church's  garden  with  the  sweet  violets,  the  pure 
snowdrops,  and  the  sunny,  fragrant  flowers  of  God's  own  children  ! 
I  sometimes  think  of  the  pastor's  work  from  another  standpoint. 
There  lay  right  above  my  old  parsonage  a  knoll  that  formerly,  by 
reason  of  its  location,  was  the  most  wind-swept  and  barren  spot 
along  a  fine  old  roadway,  and  yet  that  knoll  had  been  changed  into 
one  of  the  most  beautiful,  one  of  the  most  productive,  one  of  the 
best  sheltered  and  most  delightsome  of  any  along  the  whole  road. 
What  had  wrought  the  change  ?  The  change  was  the  direct  result 
of  the  planting  of  some  trees.  These  w^ere  trees  of  a  pastor's  plant- 
ing. In  looking  out  upon  the  roadw^ay,  this  pastor  reflected  how 
useful  as  well  as  ornamental  it  would  be  if  that  hill  was  crowned 
with  trees ;  that  while  adding  to  the  picturesqueness  of  the  view 
from  his  own  windows,  this  would  be  a  good  thing  as  affording 
some  shelter  for  the  weary  carters  on  the  road  on  wintry,  windy 
nights,  as  they  came  exposed  to  this  breezy  sweep,  and  moreover 
that  as  a  few  fruit  trees  there  would  be  near  a  school  and  inside 
the  school  inclosure,  the  children  attending  that  school  would  be 
provided  with  free  fruit.  The  pastor's  trees  were,  therefore,  planted 
and  they  grew  and  bore  fruit.  They  became  strong  and  hardy, 
and  while  their  luxuriant  foliage  in  summer  insured  a  refuge  from 


60      childeen's  celebration  of  the  day. 

the  sun's  hot  rays,  their  strong  breasts  and  stout  limbs  were  an  equal 
guarantee  of  protection  from  the  blasts  of  winter.  The  old  Scotch 
fir,  strong  and  mighty,  stood  right  along  the  front  line  to  break 
the  force  of  the  wind,  while  on  the  inner  side  were  ranged  the 
fruit  trees.  As  I  looked  upon  the  spot  and  realized  how  com- 
pletely that  bleak  knoll  had  been  transformed,  how  it  had  been 
made  productive,  bright  and  attractive,  how  it  had  been  sheltered 
and  made  beautiful;  when  I  saw  how,  in  the  autumn-time  the 
boughs  bent  heavily  down  with  the  rich  clusters  of  ripening  fruit, 
I  thought  that  here  was  typified  precisely  that  memorial  that  a 
pastor  ought  to  yearn  to  leave  behind  him, — trees  of  the  Lord's 
right-hand  planting — trees  which  the  Great  IMaster  of  the  vine- 
yard had  employed  him  to  plant.  I  would  have  children,  espe- 
cially you,  Sabbath-school  scholars,  to  remember  there  are  bleak 
spots  in  life  where  there  are  weary  souls  that  have  little  shelter, 
where  there  are  hungry  souls  that  have  little  sustenance. 

What  has  your  pastor  been  laboring  here  for  ?  He  has  been 
laboring  to  grow  you  into  stalwart  trees  of  God,  he  has  been  labor- 
ing to  grow  you  into  fruitful  trees,  trees  that  shall  bring  forth  the 
sevenfold  fruitage  of  the  Spirit.  Pray  for  him  that,  when  he  has 
passed  out  of  the  view  of  men,  there  shall  remain  these  sheltered 
and  fruitful  spots,  where  you  shall  continue  to  grow  as  trees  of  a 
vineyard  planted  by  Jesus  himself,  heavy  laden  with  the  golden, 
glorious  fruit  of  Christ. 

And  now,  with  one  other  remark,  I  will  have  stated  the  thoughts 
suo-o-ested  by  the  inspiration  of  the  moment.  I  sometimes  think, 
as  I  walk  through  my  library  and. recall  the  names  of  some  of  the 
good  men  whom  God  has  given  to  us,  that  the  pastor's  life  should 
be  like  the  memorial  which  a  great  and  good  author  leaves  behind 
him  in  his  books  and  writings,  or,  in  other  words,  in  his  epistles. 
You  remember  that  that  was  the  idea  that  was  before  the  mind  of 
the  Apostle  Paul:  for,  as  he  writes  his  second  letter  to  Corinth, 
he  says  in  substance :  "  I  do  not  need  any  letter  of  introduction  : 
wherever  I  go,  I  have  living  letters  that  introduce  me  and  make 
the  people  know  precisely  what  I  am  and  what  I  have  striven  to 
do ;  ye  are  my  epistles,  written  not  with  pen  and  ink  but  written 
on  the  tables  of  the  heart."  What  were  they  whom  he  thus  ad- 
dressed? They  were  in  themselves  gospels  of  Christ.  Paul  had 
written  them  over,  within  and  without,  as  it  were,  filled  them  full 


children's  celebration  of  the  day.      61 

from  the  beginning  to  the  ending  of  Jesus  Christ ;  so  that,  wherever 
they  went,  they  spoke  of  Christ ;  they  witnessed  for  Christ.  And 
when  it  was  asked  how  it  came  to  pass  that  they  had  grown,  as  it 
were,  into  living  gospels,  the  only  answer  that  could  be  given  was: 
"  it  was  our  pastor's  work."  It  was  the  work  of  Paul,  the  apostle 
of  the  Gentiles.  Dear  young  friends,  from  that  pulpit,  through 
the  lips  of  your  pastor,  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  its  richness 
and  fulness,  in  its  transforming  power,  in  its  sanctifying  glory,  has 
been  poured  into  you — with  what  end  ?  That  you  should  be  his 
epistle,  and,  above  all,  Christ's  epistles ;  that  as  you  go  to  speak  or 
to  preach  to  others,  it  may  be  seen  what  sort  of  a  gospel  God,  by 
His  Spirit,  enabled  your  pastor  to  preach  to  you  ;  that  if  you  go  to 
bring  the  weary  sinner  to  Jesus,  it  may  be  known  how  Christ, 
through  your  pastor,  comforted  you  ;  and  that,  if  you  speak  of  rest 
for  the  people  of  God,  it  may  be  known  how  your  pastor  filled 
your  heart  full  of  the  joy  and  hope  of  heaven  until  the  Gospel  of 
gladness  sang  its  continual  song  of  joy  from  out  of  your  rejoicing 
spirit. 

I  pray  that  this  field  of  labor  may  be  more  and  more  a  garden 
which  the  Lord  God  has  blessed ;  that  more  and  more  ye  may  be 
the  pastor's  trees  of  the  Lord's  right  hand  planting;  and  that 
everywhere  ye  may  be  the  epistles  of  Christ  known  and  read  of 
all  men. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  address,  the  tiny  voices  of  the 
Infant  School  gently  blended  in  the  following  sweet  strains : 

Hymn  by  the  Infant  School. 

Hark,  the  gentle  voice  of  Jesiis  falletli 

Tenderly  upon  your  ear ; 
Sweet  his  cry  of  love  and  joity  calleth ; 
Turn  and  listen,  stay  and  hear. 

Chorus. — Ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden. 

Lean  upon  your  dear  Lord's  breast ; 
Ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
Come,  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 

Take  His  yoke,  for  Pie  is  meek  and  lowly, 

Bear  His  burden,  of  Him  learn. 
He  who  calleth  is  the  Master,  holy ; 

He  will  teach,  if  you  will  learn. 
Chorus. — Ye  that  labor,  etc. 


62      children's  celebratiox  of  the  day. 

Then,  His  loving,  tender  voice  obeying, 

Bear  His  yoke.  His  burden  take ; 
Find  the  yoke  His  liand  is  on  you  hxying 

Light  and  easy  for  His  sake. 

Chorus. — Ye  that  labor,  etc. 

Address  by  Eev.  Joseph  R.  Kerr,  of  New  York  City. 

Upon  being  presented  by  Superintendent  Hippie,  the  speaker 
said: 

After  two  such  speeclies  as  those  to  which  you  have  been  privi- 
leged to  listen,  I  think  it  almost  presumption  on  my  part  to  con- 
sent even  to  accept  the  courtesy  of  an  invitation  from  your  super- 
intendent to  proceed  with  what  I  may  have  to  say.  I  fear  to  take 
up  this  harp  which  has  been  playing  so  sweetly  under  your  pastor's 
tender  touch,  and  whose  chords  have  been  struck  so  responsively 
by  others. 

However,  I  really  know  of  no  words  which  I  may  use  with 
more  ^^ropriety  this  afternoon,  in  greeting  you,  than  the  words 
made  use  of  by  Moses  when  the  children  of  Israel  were  upon  the 
plains  of  Moab,  after  they  had  taken  their  long  journey  from 
Horeb,  and  when  Moses's  life  was  nearly  done  and  he  must  soon 
pass  out  from  this  earth.  The  shadow  of  the  mountain  seemed  to 
be  already  upon  his  head  when,  looking  downward  and  seeing  six 
hundred  thousand  of  the  children  of  Israel,  mostly  a  young  gener- 
ation, crowded  together,  he  looked,  he  listened,  and,  stretching  forth 
his  hands,  he  said :  "  The  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  make  you  a 
thousand  times  so  many  as  ye  are,  and  bless  you."  That  is  my 
greeting  to  you,  dear  children  ;  and  in  that  connection  I  M'ill  ask 
you  to  let  me  say  a  word  to  you  young  people  about  your  fathers' 
God.  Our  fathers'  God ;  he  is  the  immutable  Godhead.  My 
father's  God  and  my  God ;  he  is  the  same  God.  Unlike  the 
things  of  the  earth,  all  that  pertains  to  the  Godhead  is  the 
same  now  and  evermore.  We  usually  prize  very  highly  any 
article  that  once  I  elonged  to  our  parents.  I  have  in  my 
study  an  old-fashioned  red  hickory  chair  in  which,  they  tell 
me,  my  grandfather  sat,  years  ago,  in  his  little  study  on  the 
banks  of  the  Allegheny  Iliver,  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  when 
preparing  his  sermons  for  the  people.  I  have  taken  that  old 
chair  into  my  study,  and  when  preparing  my  sermons  for  my 


CHILDREN  S  CELEBRATION"  OF  THE  DAY.         63 

people,  I  sit  in  it ;  and  because  it  was  my  grandfather's  and  ray- 
father's  chair  I  prize  it  and  I  love  it.  When  a  gentleman,  who 
came  into  my  house  a  few  months  ago,  exhibited  to  me  an  old- 
fashioned  watch  (one  of  those  bull's-eye  watches),  which  he  cas- 
ually pulled  from  his  pocket,  I  remarked  to  him :  "  Why,  dear 
me,  you  ought  to  carry  a  better-looking  watch  than  that."  In- 
stantly his  countenance  lit  up  and  a  moisture  came  about  his  eye 
as  he  replied  :  "  No,  I  wouldn't  give  that  old  watch  for  all  the 
American  watches  you  could  offer  me  ;  my  father  carried  it  until 
he  died."  A  friend  of  mine  had  on  his  little  finger  a  ring  of 
gold  which  had  been  worn  very  thin,  indeed  one  edge  of  it  was 
quite  ragged,  and  when  noticing  its  condition  I  said  to  him  : 
"  That  is  a  peculiar-looking  ring  ;  there  must  be  some  mystery 
about  it."  As  he  replied  his  voice  grew  husky  as  he  went  on  to 
tell  me :  "  That  is  the  ring  my  father  put  on  my  mother's  hand 
years  and  years  ago.  When  that  hand  was  cold  and  still  he  slip- 
ped it  off  and  put  it  on  his  own  finger,  and  he  wore  it  until  his 
own  hand  was  waxen  like  hers.  Now  it  is  mine,  and  I  am  going 
to  wear  it  to  the  grave."  Ah,  but  we  all  have  "  our  ftithers' 
God."  My  father's  God  is  not  worn,  scarred,  and  bruised  like 
my  old  study  chair ;  nor  is  He  defaced,  old-fashioned,  and  out  of 
date,  like  my  friend's  watch;  nor  is  He  ragged  and  very  delicate, 
having  served  his  day,  like  that  dead  woman's  ring.  He  is  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever.  The  eternal  throne — God's 
white  throne,  your  fathers'  God's  throne,  and  my  father's  God's 
throne — is  as  bright  and  strong  to-day  as  ever.  It  is  not  all  broken 
down  by  time,  like  one  of  the  old  castles  on  the  Rhine,  with  the 
ivy  or  the  wild  vines  trembling  o'er  it. 

Our  fathers'  God!  Out  there  at  Laurel  Hill  some  of  you  chil- 
dren in  the  summer-time  have  seen,  right  at  the  gateway,  the  statue 
of  Old  Mortality.  Very  likely  you  are  familiar  with  the  history 
of  the  statue,  and  with  the  very  sweet  and  tender  story  of  which  it 
is  the  reminder, — of  the  old  man  going  through  a  grave-yard, 
with  mallet  and  chisel  trying  to  pick  out  in  the  marble  the  names 
that  had  become  all  blurred  with  time  and  overgrown  with  moss. 
"  Our  fathers,  where  are  they  ?"  Old  Mortality  seems  to  ask,  as  he 
bends  his  head  and  looks  curiously  over  the  fallen  tombstones. 
But  our  fathers'  God  !  Aye,  He  is  still  by  our  side ;  ever  the  same 
in  all  His  j)erfection,  beauty,  and  excellence;  just  as  fresh  for  you, 


64      children's  celebration  of  the  day. 

boys,  as  He  was  for  your  fathers.  How  then  is  it  with  the  elderly, 
with  those  of  you  here  to-day  who  are  far  advanced  in  life?  Dear 
friend,  you  are  not  so  strong  as  you  used  to  be ;  you  are  standing 
at  life's  west  window;  you  feel  that  you  cannot  get  to  church  as 
often  as  you  would  like  to ;  you  feel  often,  when  you  come,  you  can 
hardly  join  in  the  service,  your  voice  is  thin  and  weak.  Ah,  me, 
while  I  have  been  talking  about  this  God  of  our  fathers  being  the 
the  same,  you  say  to  yourself,  "  Oh,  yes,  lie  is  the  same  to  me  to- 
day, sir;  and  tell  the  children  for  me, — for  the  old  man  and  the 
old  woman  here  to-day, — He  is  just  the  same  blessed,  precious  God 
that  He  was  years  ago,  when  we  put  our  hand  up  into  His,  and 
there  fell  upon  our  anxious  face  His  forgiving  smile." 

Then  I  want  to  say  that  the  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  is  a  tried 
God.  You  know  that  David  protested  when  Saul  put  the  armor 
on  hini  and  gave  him  the  spear  M'ith  which  he  was  to  go  out  and 
fight  the  giant,  "No,  I  cannot  wear  nor  carry  anything  like  that; 
it  is  very  clumsy."  AVhen  Saul  urged  him  to  wear  the  armor  as 
his  only  means  of  defence  in  the  conflict,  the  stripling  said,  "No, 
take  it  off  me;  give  me  the  sling,  give  me  a  pebble  from  the 
brook ;  I  have  tried  that  and  I  know  what  I  can  do  with  it." 
Then  -while  we  know  of  different  degrees  of  friendship,  we  know 
that  that  of  Jonathan's  was  a  tried  friendship.  But  I  must  hasten 
on  in  bringing  this  point  out  to  you  more  clearly.  Young  people 
are  confiding  and  they  want  to  grow  up  with  confidence  in  some 
one  Avho  has  been  tried,  who  has  been  found  true,  who  has  been 
found  efficient,  who  has  been  found  faithful  in  all  love  and  beauty 
and  power  and  grace.  This  God  of  your  fathers  has  been  tried 
and  has  never,  never  been  found  wanting. 

This  day  a  week  ago  I  attended  the  funeral  of  a  lady,  in  New 
York,  of  whom  I  had  known  nothing  until  a  few  days  before  that. 
I  think  it  was  on  the  previous  Wednesday  or  Thursday,  that  one 
of  my  lady  friends  came  to  me  and  said  : 

"  Mr.  Kerr,  will  you  go  up  on  the  avenue  and  see  a  sick  lady  ?" 

"  Does  she  belong  to  my  church  ?"  I  queried. 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Does  she  go  to  any  church  ?" 

"  No,  sir  ;  she  does  not  go  to  any  church." 

"  What  kind  of  a  woman  has  she  been  ?" 

"  Well,  her  life  has  not  been  very  white,  sir." 


children's  celebeation  of  the  day.  65 

"  Has  she  any  friends  here  ?" 

''  N^o,  sir ;  but  she  wants  to  see  a  minister,  and  I  came  down  to 
yon.     Will- yon  go?" 

"  Certainly  I  will  go,"  I  replied,  and  accordingly  started  for 
up-town.  I  was  finally  shown  into  a  room  very  comfortably,  if 
not  luxuriously  furnished,  and  went  to  the  bedside  of  the  invalid. 
The  poor  sufferer  was  lying  there  helpless  and  scarcely  able  to 
speak,  and  as  gently  as  I  could  I  said  to  her : 

"  Madam,  I  am  here.  I  understand  that  you  sent  for  me. 
What  can  I  do  for  you  ?" 

"  Oh,  sir,"  she  exclaimed,  "  I  want  to  be  saved — I  Avant  to  be 
saved !" 

I  inquired:  "Do  you  know  anything  about  the  Saviour?" 

Her  eyes  filled  up,  and  the  big  tears  ran  down  over  the  sunken 
cheeks,  as  she  replied  : 

"  I  used  to  know  about  him." 

I  said :  "  If  you  are  able  to  talk  just  for  a  few  minutes  longer 
will  you  tell  me  about  that  which  used  to  be  ?" 

She  responded  :  "  If  you  will  inquire  of  some  of  the  old  resi- 
dents of  New  York,  you  will  know  that  when  I  was  a  girl  there 
was  a  Sunday-school  in  a  frame  building  down  on  such  and  such 
a  street.  My  mother  used  to  take  me  there  and  she  used  to  tell 
me  that  the  Saviour  was  the  best  friend  I  could  possibly  have,  and 
she  told  me  she  had  tried  Him." 

I  asked  :  "  Did  you  never  try  Him  yourself?" 

"  No,"  she  answered. 

Ah,  the  poor  thing  had  been  trying  other  friends  and  other 
helpers.  The  supports  on  which  she  relied  had  broken  tinder  her 
weight,  and  the  splinters  were  piercing  her  dying  heart.  Oh,  how 
her  trembling  lips  repeated  to  me  the  cry : 

"  I  want  to  be  saved  !" 

I  repeated  to  her  again  the  testimony  her  mother  had  given,  assur- 
ing her  that  He  was  a  tried  Saviour  of  myself,  that  He  was  a  tried 
God,  and  advised  her  just  to  cast  her  whole  weight  upon  Him,  and 
she  would  be  saved.  I  was  not  privileged  to  be  present  when  she  was 
called  away,  but  they  told  me  that  just  before  she  died,  when  the 
cold  waves  of  the  Jordan  were  washing  about  her,  she  exclaimed  : 
"  Jesus,  my  all,  to  heaven  is  gone,"  as  though  she  had  become 
sincerely  penitent. 

5 


66      children's  celebration  of  the  day. 

Let  me  just  give  you  crudely  the  points  of  the  rest  of  my  ad- 
dress, for  I  am  trespassing  upon  the  hospitalities  of  the  occasion. 

The  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  is  the  same  God,  and  he  is  a  tried 
God,  and  part  of  my  prayer  to-day  is  that  you  may  increase  and 
multiply  a  thousand-fold,  having  the  fear  of  God  and  the  love  of 
His  Bible  in  your  hearts.  Now  let  me  call  your  attention  to  two 
of  God's  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises.  The  first  is  this  : 
"  They  that  seek  me  early  shall  find  me."  This  dear  boy  whom  I 
see  before  me  has  been  repeating  those  precious  words.  They  re- 
mind me  of  an  interesting  incident  which  occurred  in  my  experi- 
ence yesterday.  Upon  entering  a  bank  which  adjoins  my  residence 
I  was  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  cashier,  whom  I  met  there, 
seemed  to  be  in  an  unusually  happy  mood.  Upon  my  calling  at- 
tention to  the  fact,  he  replied  : 

"  Yes,  I  feel  splendid  to-day." 

I  observed  that  my  supposition  was  that  the  cause  was  due  to 
the  fine  bracing  weather,  and  in  response  he  called  me  aside  and 
stated  the  reason  for  his  buoyant  spirits.     He  said  : 

"  My  boy  Willie,  who  is  only  twelve  and  a  half  years  old,  and 
who  is  our  only  boy,  told  his  mother  and  me  last  night  that  on 
Sunday  next  he  is  to  partake  of  the  communion.  He  has  been 
to  see  his  pastor." 

This  was  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise:  "  They  that  seek  me 
early  shall  find  me."  Think  it  over,  my  dear  children.  And  now 
will  you  not  repeat  it  with  your  own  tongues  that  it  may  find  more 
secure  lodgment  in  your  hearts  : 

[The  suggestion  of  Dr.  Kerr  was  here  promptly  and  heartily 
responded  to  by  the  little  ones,  who  repeated  audibly  and  impres- 
sively the  words  of  the  promise.] 

Now  I  make  a  like  request  with  regard  to  the  second  promise, 
and  I  address  that  request  to  the  elderly  members  of  the  great 
assemblage  before  me.  I  ask  them  to  repeat  these  words:  "Go 
ye  out  from  among  them  and  be  ye  shepherds,  saith  the  Lord,  and 
touch  not  the  unclean  things;  and  I  will  be  a  father  unto  you," — 
our  fathers'  God, — "and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  .saith 
the  Lord  Almighty."  That  is  too  long  a  response  for  you  to 
make,  is  it  not?  I  will  not  insist  u])on  my  request.  Isly  prayer 
is  that  the  Lord  may  bless  you  through  these  promises. 


children's  celebration  of  the  day.      67 

Let  me  add  that  I  am  delighted  to  be  here  to-day.  I  deem  it 
quite  a  privilege  and  quite  an  honor  to  be  here  and  to  lift  my 
voice,  even  in  this  disconnected  way,  in  honor  of  what  I  may  term 
the  coincidental  anniversary  of  the  formation  of  this  pastorate  and 
of  the  organization  of  this  church  twenty-five  years  ago.  The 
twofold  character  of  the  occasion  forcibly  reminds  me  of  what  I 
saw  in  a  forest  last  summer.  Two  trees  had  grown  together,  in- 
tertwining their  branches  and  their  foliage  above  the  spot  where 
years  before  the  seed  had  germinated.  When  but  a  few  feet  above 
the  surface  the  two  young  trees  had  inclined  toward  each  other, 
and,  as  they  increased  in  growth,  had  gradually  developed  their 
natural  tendency  until  their  relation  toward  each  other  had  all  the 
appearance  of  a  mutual  dependence  upon  each  other  for  support. 
Another  peculiarity  of  the  picture  was  the  growth  of  a  beautiful 
vine  which  had  wound  itself  around  the  blended  trees,  and,  strength- 
ening with  their  strength,  had  extended  itself  to  the  uppermost 
branches  of  both  as  if  to  catch  the  first  rays  of  God's  enriching 
sunlight.  I  think  that  that  picture  typifies  most  beautifully  this 
pastorate  of  twenty-five  years,  this  quarter-century  of  the  organi- 
zation of  this  church  and  this  Sabbath-school.  You  are  one  tree, 
and  around  about  that  tree,  growing  up  toward  God's  Son  of  right- 
eousness, the  young  people  are  the  vine.  Stability  and  safety  are 
emblemized  there.  My  dear  children,  young  people  like  yourselves 
are  disposed  to  be  a  little  unstable,  'to  go  from  one  church  to 
another,  from  one  Sabbath-school  to  another,  oftentimes  finding 
attractions  outside  the  church,  being  led  away,  and,  in  many  in- 
stances, ultimately  bringing  sorrow  to  their  own  homes  as  w^ell  as 
to  the  heart  of  the  pastor.  Let  me  urge  you,  as  you  value  your 
own  character,  your  own  peace  of  mind,  your  own  enjoyment,  to 
cling  around  this  twenty-five  year  old  tree.  There  is  safety  for 
you  in  it  and  there  is  beauty  in  it.  As  the  vine  beautifies  the  tree, 
so  do  you  wdth  all  your  graces  and  all  your  excellencies  beautify 
this  place.  In  saying  to  you  that  I  love  your  pastor,  I  do  not 
utter  any  mere  idle  words,  for  if  you  could  look  right  down  into 
my  heart  you  would  realize  how  sincere  is  the  declaration ;  and  I 
am  not  at  all  jealous  that  you  love  him  too.  He  is  big  enough  to 
go  all  around.  God  bless  him,  God  bless  you,  and  may  he  and 
you  be  as  bright  and  happy  in  the  years  to  come  as  you  both 
appear  to  be  now. 


68      children's  celebration  of  the  day. 

The  next  order  of  the  programme  was  a  hymn,  in  the  singing 
of  which  the  school  joined,  as  follows : 

Hymn. 

1.  Girls — We  are  marching  on  with  shield  and  banner  bright, 

Boys — We  will  work  for  God  and  battle  for  the  right, 
Girls— We  will  praise  his  name  rejoicing  in  his  might, 
All — And  we'll  work  till  Jesns  calls. 
Chorus — {Girls)  Then  awake, — (Boi/s)  Then  awake, 
{Girls)  Then  awake, — {Boijs)  Then  awake, 
[Girls)  Happy  song, — {Boys)  Happy  song, 
( Girls)  Happy  song, — {Boys)  Happy  song, 
(Girls)  Shout  for  joy, — (Boys)  Shout  for  joy, 
(Girls)  Shout  for  joy, — (Boys)  Shout  for  joy, 

(All)  As  we  gladly  march  along. 
We  are  marching  onward,  singing  as  we  go, 
To  the  promised  land  where  living  waters  flow; 
Come  and  join  our  ranks  as  pilgrims  here  below, 
(vome  and  work  till  Jesus  calls. 

2.  Girls — We  are  marching  on  and  pressing  toward  the  prize, 

Boys — To  a  glorious  crown  beyond  the  glowing  skies. 
Girls — To  the  radiant  fields  where  pleasure  never  dies, 
All — And  we'll  Avork  till  Jesus  calls. 
Chorus — Then  awake,  etc. 

The  Chairman  (Superintendent  Frank  K.  Hippie,  Esq.),  having 
stated  that  that  point  in  the  programme  had  been  reached  at  which 
remarks  impromptu  were  in  order,  said : 

Remarks  by  the  Superintendent. 

Five  years  ago,  when  our  school  was  twenty  years  old,  we  had 
all  our  four  superintendents  upon  the  platform  at  our  anniversary. 
Our  first  superintendent,  John  S.  Hart,  has  since  gone  to  his  re- 
ward, but  you  have  the  other  three  here  this  afternoon,  and  they 
will  each  say  a  few  words  to  the  school.  Mr.  Junkin,  our  senior 
ex-superintendent,  whom  I  now  present,  is  known  to  you  all. 

Mr.  Junkin  promptly  responded  as  follows: 

Address  by  George  Junkin,  Esq. 

Well,  children,  it  always  makes  me  feel  sad  to  think  that  I 
should  be  called  the  senior  superintendent  of  this  great  school ;  but 
when  I  look  over  it  and  recognize  that  those  who  were  scholars, 


children's  celebration  of  the  day.      69 

when  I  had  the  honor  and  the  pleasure  of  presiding  over  that 
school,  are  now  teachers  in  it  and  leaders  in  this  great  army  of 
children,  I  realize  that  I  am  perhaps  getting  old.  And  yet,  if  I 
am  indeed  growing  old,  it  is  in  a  service  in  which,  I  trust,  I  shall 
find  myself  when  called,  like  my  predecessor,  to  lay  off  the  weapons 
of  warfare  and  to  lie  down  in  peace.  That  I  was  for  six  years  the 
superintendent  of  this  school  was  to  me  a  happy  experience.  I 
followed  in  the  footsteps  of  one  who  was  a  Prince  in  this  sort  of 
work,  so  that  when  I  came  to  it  I  found  the  work  organized  and 
ready  to  my  hand,  and  had  but  to  follow  on  in  the  footprints  which 
■  he  had  left.  To  one  and  all  of  you  I  now  address  myself,  when  I  say, 
that  it  is  my  privilege  and  duty  to  return  you  tlianks  for  the  kind- 
ness, the  love,  and  the  consideration  that  I  always  received  at  your 
hands.  It  was  a  joy  and  a  pleasure  to  preside  over  the  school ; 
and  I  was  supported,  as  ray  predecessor  had  been,  and  as  my  suc- 
cessors all  have  been,  by  the  ardent  co-operation  and  aid  of  every 
teacher  in  the  school. 

But  this  is  the  anniversary  of  our  twenty-five  years  of  existence, 
and,  as  has  been  beautifully  said,  it  is  the  joint  anniversary,  the 
coincidental, — it  was  a  very  long  word  that  Brother  Kerr  made 
use  of, — "the  coincidental"  anniversary  of  the  pastorate  also;  and 
it  becomes  me  here  to  say,  that  our  dear  pastor  has  been  to  this 
school  a  loving  and  tender  shepherd  of  the  sheep.  He  has  led  us 
by  the  still  waters  and  in  the  green  pastures,  and  it  has  been  a  joy 
and  a  delight  to  us  all  to  follow  him  as  he  has  preceded  us  in  the 
way.  How  well  do  I  remember  that,  in  the  afternoon  service, 
when,  upon  his  coming  up  those  stairs  and  opening  that  door,  I 
would  be  at  my  desk,  not  noticing  that  the  door  had  opened,  I 
would  instantly  see  a  ripple  passing  over  the  school,  just  as  you 
sometimes  see  a  flash  of  sunlight  glancing  over  a  landscape  when  a 
cloud  has  lifted.  I  knew  instinctively  what  it  meant ;  the  Pastor 
had  come  in,  and  every  child's  face  sparkled  with  joy  as  the  Pastor 
passed  from  seat  to  seat,  and  spoke  to  each  class. 

But  I  must  not  detain  you  with  a  long  speech,  as  we  are  to  have 
two  more  speeches,  and  it  would  be  rather  an  impertinence  for  me 
to  occupy  your  time  in  making  a  speech  after  the  three  we  have 
listened  to.  I  thank  my  friend,  jNIr.  Hippie,  the  Superintendent, 
for  having  given  me  the  opportunity  of  looking  once  more  in  your 
faces,  and  the  opportunity  of  looking  once  more  in  the  faces  of 


70      children's  celebeation  of  the  day. 

those  whom  I  remember  were  little  children  like  yourselves  when 
I  took  charge  of  the  school,  who  have  grown  to  be  men  and  women, 
while  ray  own  sons  and  daughters  occupy  places  as  teachers  in  the 
school,  and  it  will  be  only  a  short  time  ere  I  shall  hope  to  see  my 
grandson  occupying  a  like  place.  I  am  indeed  growing  old,  but, 
as  was  remarked  to  me  in  conversation  this  morning,  "Sixty  years 
of  age  may  seem  to  leave  but  a  very  short  time  to  live,  but  it  de- 
pends altogether  from  which  side  of  sixty  you  look  at  it,  whether 
you  affirm  or  reject  that  view  of  it."  As  I  get  nearer  home,  it  seems 
to  me  to  be  as  far  away  as  before,  and  I  cannot  realize  that  I  am 
growing  old.  If  I  pass  the  rest  of  my  years,  as  heretofore,  among 
these  teachers  and  these  scholars,  and  among  those  who  compose 
this  church,  I  hope  that,  although  the  frosts  of  winter  may  fall 
upon  me  and  the  shadow  of  the  grave  dim  my  vision,  I  shall  never 
feel  that  I  am  old,  but  shall  feel  that  I  am  continually  renewing 
my  youth.  And  I  shall  be  rejoiced  if  my  exit  from  this  world  be 
as  peaceful,  as  joyful,  and  as  glorious  as  was  that  of  my  predeces- 
sor from  the  scenes  of  time  to  the  glorious  realities  of  a  blissful 
eternity. 

The  Chairman  next  presented  his  immediate  predecessor  in  the 
superintendency,  and  Mr.  Sherrerd* responded  as  follows: 

Address  by  Henry  D.  Sherrerd,  Esq. 

It  was  hardly  necessary  that  I  should  be  called  upon  to  say  a 
word  save  by  way  of  indorsement  of  all  that  my  beloved  Brother 
Junkin  has  said.  Following  him  in  the  superintendency,  as  I 
did,  I  had  no  trouble  to  contend  with,  such  as  that  to  which  he 
has  referred  in  connection  with  the  superintendency  of  his  prede- 
cessor, Professor  Hart.  The  pathway  had  been  laid  out,  and  all 
that  I  had  to  do  was  to  follow  therein.  My  service  of  eight  years 
as  a  teacher  in  this  beloved  school  was  followed  by  a  superin- 
tendency of  nine  years,  and  those  seventeen  years  were  to  me 
years  of  happiness.  And  how  could  it  be  otherwise?  With  a 
school  so  docile,  so  teachable,  with  teachers  so  faithful  and  so  sus- 
taining, my  heart  would  be  that  of  a  stone  if  I  could  not  stand  up 
here  and  indorse  all  that  has  already  been  said,  and  express  the 
satisfaction  and  gratification  I  feel  in  the  recollection  of  the  joys 


CHILDREN  S  CELEBRATIOX  OF  THE  DAY.         71 

which  I  experienced  throughout  the  period  of  my  tutorship  and 
superintendency.  As  my  Brother  Junkin  has  truly  said,  those 
who  were  then  boys  and  girls  in  this  school  have  since  risen  up  to 
be  teachers  and  heads  of  families,  and  I  can  repeat  for  myself  the 
assertion  which  that  brother  has  made  for  himself,  that  I  do  not 
think  I  feel  any  older  than  I  did  on  the  day  on  which  I  first  came 
into  the  school.  I  trust  the  Lord  will  permit  me  to  enjoy  this 
feeling  as  long  as  He  allows  me  to  occupy  a  place  upon  this,  his 
footstool. 

But,  dear  friends,  we  would  have  you  realize  that  it  is  the  de- 
sire of  all  of  us  that  you  should  be  in  the  army  of  the  living  God. 
Allusion  has  been  made  to  some  of  those  noble  men  of  God  who 
became  illustrious  in  their  generation  by  reason  of  their  having 
learned  and  kept  the  commandments  of  Him  who  sat  on  high. 
Moses  was  mentioned  by  one  of  my  learned  brethren  who  pre- 
ceded me.  Do  you  suppose  that  that  noble  sister  who  watched  the 
cradled  infant  as  he  lay  in  the  bulrushes  along  the  Nile  did  not 
feel  apprehensive  of  the  dangers  that  threatened  him  ?  Little  did 
she  imagine  that  he  was  destined  to  arise  to  be  a  great  prince,  to 
lead  the  great  family  of  the  Israelites  through  their  eventful  journey, 
and  to  be  the  great  counsellor  of  his  people.  Who  here  before  me 
may  not  be  a  great  leader  in  Israel  ?  There  was  Samuel — a  weak 
little  boy.  How  he  grew  in  wisdom  !  Though  Eli  did  not  seem 
to  command  his  own  people,  yet  the  Lord  commanded  them  for 
him  until  little  Samuel  rose  to  be  a  priest  and  a  prophet  in  the 
service  of  the  Lord.  So  it  was  with  David  when  he  was  a  boy. 
You  know  how  it  came  to  pass  that  he  was  sent  for  to  superintend 
a  momentous  event.  Who  then  would  have  imagined  that  David 
would  be  King  of  Israel,  a  great  statesman  and  warrior  and  a 
man  after  God's  own  heart?  And  then,  as  you  follow  along 
down  the  line  of  David,  you  come  to  Him  Avho  was  a  little 
child,  obedient  to  his  parents,  who  grew  in  knowledge  and 
in  wisdom,  and  who  became  a  sacrifice  for  you  and  for  me, 
and  for  the  whole  world.  Yea,  when  we  were  in  our  sins  He 
manifested  His  love  for  us,  and  died  upon  the  cross  that  you  and  I 
should  be  reconciled  unto  God,  the  Father.  Oh  that  you  may  all 
embrace  this  delightful  religion,  which  we  all  profess.  It  is  to  me 
a  delight  to  see  to-day  so  many  in  the  way  leading  to  Zion.  Oh, 
that  we  may  sincerely  embrace  the  cross  of  the  Saviour,  and  thereby 


72      children's  celebration  of  the  day. 

receive  that  delightful  assurance  that  was  vouchsafed  to  the  peni- 
tent malefactor  who  hung  alongside  the  Saviour  when  He  died. 
"  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise."  Oh,  how  many 
of  this  dear  school  have  gone  up  to  glory,  where  they  are  to-day 
on  tlie  right  hand  of  the  ^Majesty  on  high.  Let  us  cling  unto  the 
cross  and  not  depart  from  it.  Let  us  obey  the  commandments — 
that  which  says :  "  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy," 
and  all  the  others — for  if  you  depart  from  them,  dear  children, 
there  is  no  knowing  what  your  fate  will  be.  Choose  the  narrow 
path  and  embrace  the  Saviour  to-day  that  you  may  ultimately  be 
made  soldiers  in  the  army  of  God,  and  be  among  those  who  shall 
gather  around  the  great  white  throne,  rejoicing  in  the  love  of  the 
Saviour,  and  sit  with  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  all  the 
redeemed  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb. 

Frank  K,  Hippie,  Esq.,  the  present  superintendent,  then  arose 
and  said : 

Address  by  Frank  K.  Hipple,  Esq. 

In  view  of  the  exceedingly  interesting  addresses  which  you 
have  heard  this  afternoon  my  reAiarks  will  be  brief.  The  few 
words  I  have  to  say  will  not  be  addressed  to  these  children  (they 
hear  my  voice  often) ;  they  will  not  be  addressed  to  these  friends 
who  have  gathered  here  to  join  us  in  our  celebration  (those  friends 
have  already  heard  words  far  more  eloquent  than  any  I  could 
hope  to  use) ;  but  what  I  may  say  shall  be  addressed  directly  to 
our  pastor.  We  have  heard  from  his  lii)S  this  afternoon  words 
full  of  love,  full  of  feeling  ;  tender,  touching  words,  which  found 
an  echo  in  our  hearts ;  and  now,  as  representing  this  school,  I 
will  say  a  few  words  that  may  reach  his  ear,  and,  as  we  trust, 
may  reach  his  heart  also. 

(Turning  towards  Dr.  Breed) :  In  the  name  of  the  school,  sir, 
I  give  you  greeting ;  I  wish  you  joy.  With  the  cares  and  anx- 
ieties incident  to  the  ])osition  which  I  hold,  there  are  at  all  times 
mingled  joys  and  pleasures.  The  communion  and  fellowship 
of  these  teachers,  the  hjving  regard  of  these  scholars,  the  co-opera- 
tion and  association  of  the  pastor,  and  the  blessing  of  the  Master 
all  afford  joy,  pleasure,  and  rejoicing.     But,  sir,  not  among  the 


children's  celebration  of  the  day.      73 

least  of  my  pleasures  as  superintendent  of  these  schools  is  that  of 
representing,  on  this  joyous  occasion,  these  scholars,  whose  bright 
faces  and  brighter  eyes  shine  upon  their  dear  pastor  from  these 
pews,  and,  in  doing  so,  to  try  to  say  what  is  in  their  hearts.  It 
devolves  upon  me  to  utter  their  congratulations  to  you  upon  this, 
your  silver  loedding;  but  I  confess  words  fail  me  I  know  not  what 
to  say.  I  know  not  how  to  say  what  we  all  feel.  Our  hearts  are 
open  to  you.  Look  into  them  and  see  all  the  love  they  bear  for 
you.  For  five  and  twenty  years  you  have  been  these  scholars' 
ftither,  and  they  the  children  of  your  love  and  of  your  care.  Now, 
on  this  Sabbath  afternoon,  this  present  generation,  in  behalf  of 
themselves  and  those  who  preceded  them,  come  here  and  lay  in 
your  hands  the  tribute  of  their  affection.  They  say  to  you :  "  True 
we  are  small,  but  our  hearts  are  large,  and  they  are  filled  to  their 
utmost  capacity  with  affection  for  and  devotion  to  you." 

It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  secure  the  affection  of  the  little  ones. 
They  intuitively  know  who  love  them  and  whom  to  love,  and 
their  instincts  seldom  mislead  them. 

But  you,  sir,  have  done  this  !  Such  love,  such  affection  from  the 
deepest  depths  of  these  young  hearts  is  yours;  yours  inalienably! 

In  the  Book  of  Proverbs  we  are  told  there  are  four  things  that 
be  little  upon  the  earth,  but  they  are  exceeding  wise :  and  to  the 
ants,  and  the  conies,  and  the  locusts,  and  the  spiders,  I  would  add 
these  children.  They  are  little,  but  they  are  "  exceeding  wise." 
While  some  of  our  older  heads  questioned  the  advisability  of  pre- 
senting you  with  a  testimonial  this  afternoon,  the  little  ones  took 
it  out  of  our  hands  and  manifested  that  "  exceeding  wisdom  "  by 
resolving  to  do  it :  and  they  have  done  it. 

[The  testimonial,  consisting  of  complete  sets  of  Macaulay's  and 
Hawthorne's  works  (20  volumes),  in  half  turkey  binding,  was  here 
deposited  upon  the  table  in  front  of  Dr.  Breed  by  four  bo^^s,  by 
whom  it  had  been  conveyed  to  the  platform.] 

Now,  sir,  in  the  name  of  these  lambs  of  your  fold,  these  who 
have  grown  up  under  your  loving  eye,  and  under  your  tender  care, 
in  the  name  of  these  children,  and  in  their  behalf,  I  present  you 
with  this  modest  expression  of  our  love  and  of  our  affection  for 
you.  These  books  mean  much  more  than  we  can  say.  They  speak 
volumes  of  love.     And  if,  in  your  hours  of  relaxation,  when  you 


74      children's  celebration  of  the  day. 

look  at  these  pages,  written  by  the  grandson  of  a  Presbyterian 
clergyman  of  good  old  Scotland,  or  at  these  other  pages  written  in 
the  "Old  Manse"  at  Concord,  with  whose  "mosses"  you  are  fa- 
miliar, you  find  one-half  the  pleasure  that  we  have  in  presenting 
them  to  you,  the  gift  will  have  been  well  worth  our  giving.  As 
you  scan  those  leaves  may  you  ever  read  between  the  lines,  written 
in  "scarlet  letters,"  that  throb  with  the  heart-blood  of  these  your 
children,  the  one  grand  old  Anglo-Saxon  word  "love" — love 
from  them;  love  from  all  of  us;  love  for  you.  From  these 
hundreds  of  hearts,  from  their  lowest  depths,  there  wells  up  one 
common  wish ;  from  these  liundreds  of  throats  there  arises  one 
common  prayer,  that  God  may  bless  you  and  yours.  May  He 
grant  to  you  many  more  happy  and  glorious  years  for  your  labors 
of  love.  May  He  reward  your  patience  of  hope  with  many  soul- 
jewels  for  your  crown  of  rejoicing.  And  when  your  work  and 
our  work  is  over,  may  you  and  we  find  rest  and  perfect  peace  in 
God's  bright  eternity  of  love. 

Dr.  Breed,  whose  voice  evidently  betrayed  the  emotion  he  could 
not  wholly  suppress,  responded  as  follows : 

Response  by  the  Pastor. 

I  may  not  say  that  the  expression  of  affection  to  which  the  lips 
of  the  superintendent  have  given  utterance  is  to  me  a  surprise 
(because  we  all  know  when  we  are  loved  and  when  we  are  not), 
but  I  do  say  to  tliese  dear  children  who  have  proffered  this  beau- 
tiful testimonial,  one  so  appropriate  and  one  which,  in  hours  of 
relaxation,  will  be  to  me  a  source  of  great  delight,  and  all  the 
greater  because  of  those  from  whom  it  comes, — I  do  say  to  them 
that  the  love  of  the  young  is  one  of  the  choicest  of  all  gifts.  I 
remember  that  when  men  hated  Christ  and  were  ready  to  crucify 
him,  I  remember  that  when  all  the  world  was  turning  against  him, 
the  children  in  the  temple  in  their  hearts  were  true  to  him  and 
shouted,  "Hosanna  in  the  highest."  Oh,  I  have  no  doubt  that 
our  blessed  Saviour  rejoices  in  the  love  of  children  with  a  heart 
full  of  delight;  and  for  myself  I  can  say  that  no  more  precious 
treasure  do  I  enjoy  than  tliat  of  the  affections  of  these  young  people. 
It  is  hard  to  speak  upon  such  an  occasion,  and  the  simple  difficulty 


children's  celebration  of  the  day.      75 

of  speaking  prevents  my  talking  to  you  at  further  length.  Your 
superintendent  suggested  to  me  that  at  the  close  of  these  services 
you  should  come  up  and  let  me  take  you  by  the  hand,  but  I  inti- 
mated to  him  that  perhaps  it  would  be  better,  in  view  of  the  im- 
pediments in  the  way  of  a  convenient  passage  around  this  platform, 
if  we  should  accomplish  the  same  end  in  another  way.  Just  let 
all  of  you,  each  for  himself  or  herself,  put  one  hand  in  the  other 
and  give  that  other  a  good  hard  squeeze,  as  hard  as  you  can,  and 
then  you  will  not  squeeze  it  half  so  hard  as  I  should  if  I  had  hold 
of  it. 

The  schools  then  united  their  voices  in  the  following: 

Hymn. 

Holy  Father !  Thou  hast  taught  us 

We  should  live  to  Thee  alone; 
Year  by  year  thy  hand  hath  brought  us 

On  through  dangers  oft  unknown. 
When  we  wandered,  Thou  hast  found  us 

When  we  doubted,  sent  us  light; 
Still  thine  arm  has  been  around  us, 

All  our  paths  were  in  thy  sight. 

We  would  trust  in  thy  protecting, 

Wholly  rest  upon  thine  arm, 
Follow  wholly  thy  directing. 

Thou  our  only  guard  from  harm ; 
Keep  us  from  our  own  undoing, 

Help  us  turn  to  Thee  when  tried; 
Still  our  footsteps,  Father  !  viewing 

Keep  us  ever  at  tliy  side. 

Supt.     Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  give  glory,  for  thy 

mercy  and  thy  truth's  sake.  (Ps.  115 : 1.) 
School.     Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that 

we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  him 

be  glory  in  the  church  by  Jesus  Christ  throughout  all  ages,  world 

without  end.     Amen.  {Eph.  3  :  20,  21.) 
Supt.     To  God  only  wise,   be   glory  through  Jesus  Christ   forever.     Amen. 

{Rom.  16  :  27.) 
All.     Now  unto  God  and  our  Father  be  glory  forever  and  ever.     Amen. 

(P/«7.  4:20.) 

The  celebration  of  the  afternoon  was  here  concluded  with  the 
benediction  by  the  pastor. 


8    O'CLOCK. 


THE  LORD  IS  LOVING  UNTO  EVERY  MAN,"  -   G.  M.  Garrett. 


Ii^rmcitt, 


By  Rev.  William  Henry  Green,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary. 


CALL  TO  REMEMBRANCE,"    -    -     -    Vincent  Novello 


SERMON. 


EoMANS  1  :  15-16. — "  So,  as  mucli  as  in  me  is,  I  am  ready  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  you  that  are  at  Eome  also.  For  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ; 
for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  helieveth  ;  to  the  Jew 
first,  and  also  to  the  Greek." 

It  required  no  small  amount  of  courage  in  Paul  to  make  such 
an  avowal  as  this.  He  writes,  as  it  would  seem,  from  Corinth, 
not  daunted  by  his  encounter  with  the  philosophers  at  Athens,  who 
mocked  at  him  and  his  message,  and  whose  contemptuous  greeting 
was.  What  will  this  babbler  say  ?  nor  by  the  scorn  with  which 
Gallio,  the  Deputy  of  Achaia,  drove  both  him  and  his  accusers 
from  the  judgment-seat,  caring  for  none  of  those  things,  and  re- 
fusing to  be  a  judge  of  such  trifling  matters;  nor  by  the  tumultu- 
ous fury  which  raged  against  him  at  Ephcsus,  in  the  zeal  of  the 
populace  for  their  great  goddess  Diana.  Paul  had  had  abundant 
experience  of  the  hostility,  the  ridicule,  and  the  persecution  which 
the  doctrine  of  the  cross  encountered  everywhere.  And  yet,  well 
knowing  what  he  said,  he  here  declares  his  unhesitating  readiness 
to  preach  the  gospel  alike  to  the  Jew,  the  Greek,  and  the  Roman, 
the  three  several  populations  which  then  divided  between  them  the 
civilized  world. 

The  Greek,  who  sought  after  wisdom,  looked  down  with  undis- 
guised contempt  upon  the  preachers  of  this  new  doctrine,  coming 
as  it  did  from  a  despised  quarter,  not  based  upon  the  tenets  of  any 
of  the  prevailing  or  accredited  systems,  not  suj)ported  by  the 
authority  of  great  names  recognized  in  the  world  of  letters,  nor 
accepted  by  such,  not  defended  by  eloquence  or  learning,  not  rest- 
ing upon  reason  and  argument,  while  controverting  all  accepted 
systems  of  belief.  Should  they  turn  their  back  upon  Pythagoras 
and  Plato,  and  all  the  famous  teachers  of  antiquity  and  of  the 
present  age,  and  all  the  stores  of  wisdom  gathered  from  sages  of 
the  East  and  of  Egypt,  and  discard  besides  the  religion  of  their 
fathers  at  the  bidding  of  a  few  outlandish  Jews?     It  was  too  pre- 


80  SERMON. 

posterous  to  be  thought  of;  the  case  was  not  even  one  for  serious 
consideration. 

And  all  the  more,  as  it  was  discredited  by  the  body  of  the  Jews 
themselves,  among  whom  this  doctrine,  at  once  so  unintelligible 
and  so  incredible,  originated.  It  not  only  failed  to  enlist  those 
Jews  who  held  somewhat  loosely  to  their  ancestral  faith  and  were 
disposed  to  accommodate  the  teachings  of  Moses  to  the  prevailing 
Pagan  taste  and  philosophy;  but  it  was  even  more  indignantly 
repelled  by  those  who  were  thoroughly  Jewish,  who  were  most 
tenacious  of  their  national  faith  and  institutions.  How  could  they 
accept  as  their  long-promised  and  expected  Messiah,  the  son  of 
David  and  the  King  of  Israel,  a  crucified  Galilean,  ignominiously 
executed  as  a  felon ;  abandoning  thus  all  their  national  hopes  and 
expectations ;  consenting  to  the  abolition  of  their  splendid  and 
venerable  ritual,  given  by  God  to  Moses  ;  yielding  up  the  prerog- 
ative, in  which  they  gloried,  of  being  the  peculiar  people  of  God, 
which  had  sustained  them  through  long  ages  of  oppression  and 
dispersion,  and  which  had  the  sanction  of  miracle  and  prophecy ; 
allowino;  the  kingdom  of  God  to  be  taken  from  them,  the  children 
of  Abraham,  the  friend  of  God,  and  given  to  Gentiles,  whom  they 
despised  as  dogs?  And  all  for  the  sake  of  a  Nazarene  of  no  re- 
pute, whom  the  chief  priests  and  rulers  and  Pharisees  combined 
to  condemn,  and  Avliose  ignoble  sect  was  everywhere  spoken 
against ! 

And  what  was  thus  scorned  by  the  Greek  and  rejected  by  the 
Jew  met  the  stern  resistance  of  the  haughty  Poman.  What  could 
be  more  ridiculous  in  his  eyes  than  the  pretensions  of  obscure  ad- 
venturers from  a  remote  and  petty  province,  who,  destitute  of 
power,  prestige,  or  numbers,  without  arms  and  without  resources, 
aimed  at  the  subjugation  of  the  world;  professed  to  be  founding 
an  empire  mightier  than  that  of  the  Ceesars,  and  destined  to  outlast 
the  eternal  city?  Or  if  this  frenzied  sect  grew  into  proportions  to 
provoke  attention,  must  they  not  be  dealt  with  as  disturbers  of  the 
public  peace  ?  Shall  they  be  permitted  to  foment  dissension ;  to 
overturn  the  established  order ;  to  slight  or  denounce  the  religion 
of  the  state  and  the  recognized  divinities;  to  come  into  open 
collision  with  the  authorities,  persuading  men  to  worship  God 
contrary  to  the  law,  and  teaching  customs  which  are  not  lawful  for 
Romans  to  receive  neither  to  observe  ? 


SERMON.  81 

Paul  was  thus  braving  universal  contempt  and  scorn  as  well  as 
positive  maltreatment,  the  ridicule  of  the  Greek,  the  hostility  of 
the  Jew,  and  the  coercive  power  of  the  Roman  State,  when  he 
stood  for  the  defence  or  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel  of  Christ ; 
and  beneatli  all  these  varied  forms  of  opposition,  and  lending  vigor 
to  them  all,  lay  the  native  and  inappeasable  hostility  of  every  hu- 
man heart  to  doctrines  so  pure,  so  uncompromising,  and  so  hum- 
bling. Yet,  in  the  face  of  it  all,  he  has  the  courage  to  say,  "■  I  am 
not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ ;  for  it  is  the  power  of  God 
mito  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth." 

We  admire  the  heroic  manliness  of  the  apostle  in  thus  uttering 
his  convictions  without  being  deterred  or  intimidated  by  the  mighty 
odds  against  him.  But  what  is  of  much  greater  consequence  than 
any  personal  tribute,  we  have  in  these  words  the  testimony  of  a 
competent  and  impartial  witness,  uttered  under  circumstances 
which  afford  a  sure  guarantee  of  its  truth.  The  statement  of  the 
text  that  the  gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  finds  an 
unimpeachable  confirmation  in  the  fact  that  Paul  affirms  it  so  to 
be.  Paul  was  or  claimed  to  be  in  possession  of  unquestionable 
supernatural  evidence  of  the  divine  power  of  the  gosi)el,  in  the 
miraculous  facts  attending  his  conversion,  in  the  miraculous  pow- 
ers which  had  been  granted  to  himself,  and  which  he  had  freely 
exercised  from  that  time  onward,  and  in  the  miraculous  endow- 
ments likewise  possessed  by  others,  who  were  associated  with  him 
in  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  These  facts  were  open  and  palpa- 
ble, and  subject  to  the  test  of  the  senses  in  every  possible  manner. 
He  could  be  under  no  delusion  or  mistake.  He  must  have  known 
beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  whether  the  gospel  was  or  was 
not  attended  with  divine  and  supernatural  ])ower,  as  he  declared 
it  to  be. 

He  further  claimed  to  have  evidence  beyond  this  of  outward 
sense;  to  have  inward  personal  experience  of  the  divine  power  of 
the  gospel  unto  salvation  in  the  spiritual  change  which  it  had 
wrought  upon  himself,  in  the  renewal  and  transformation  of  his 
nature  and  his  whole  inner  life.  And  that  this  was  no  empty  pro- 
fession is  apparent  from  his  entire  hisiory.  His  whole  course,  sub- 
sequent to  that  bright  revelation  at  Damascus,  was  the  complete 
reversal  of  what  it  had  been  before.  The  proud,  self-righteous, 
self-seeking  Pharisee  became  the  humble,  penitent,  self-denying 

6 


82  SERMON. 

follower  of  the  Xazarene ;  and  the  manifold  and  unremitting  laLors 
of  his  life  were  given  with  a  zeal  that  never  flagged  to  build  up 
the  faith  which  once  he  destroyed. 

His  perfect  sincerity  in  all  this  is  transparent.  His  language 
and  life  are  those  of  a  man  thoroughly  lionest  and  in  earnest.  This 
stands  conspicuously  out  in  every  word  he  utters  and  every  action 
that  is  recorded  of  him.  Xo  man  can  read  his  epistles  or  trace  his 
career,  however  suj^erficially,  without  being  impressed  by  this. 
Paul  was  all  aglow  with  the  earnestness  of  his  convictions,  which 
laid  every  energy  of  his  nature  under  contribution;  He  set  at 
naught  every  consideration  of  selfish  interest  or  ambition,  of  per- 
sonal ease  or  comfort,  of  power,  rank,  wealth,  or  good  name.  He 
unshrinkingly  encountered  opposition,  obloquy,  the  loss  of  every 
earthly  prospect  and  possession;  and  all  for  what?  for  no  worldly 
reason  that  can  be  named  ;  for  a  reward  in  heaven  to  be  given  him 
by  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  to  whom  he  made  his  daily  appeal. 
Every  purely  temporal  consideration  would  have  determined  him 
never  to  link  himself  with  the  maligned  and  persecuted  followers 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Every  worldly  motive  would  have  urged  him 
to  abandon  so  desperate  a  cause  as  speedily  as  possible.  He  had 
the  strongest  inducements  at  every  step  of  his  course  to  expose  the 
delusion  and  break  away  from  it^  if  it  was  one.  And  no  man  ever 
had  a  fairer  opportunity  to  know  the  gospel  thoroughly  and  with- 
out disguise  than  he  had.  That  under  these  circumstances  such  a 
man  as  Paul  affirms  the  gospel  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion, is  proof  which  cannot  be  intelligently  gainsaid  that  it  is  what 
he  says. 

Tlie  world  has  not  meanwhile  stood  still,  and  the  gospel  of 
Christ  has  not  been  hidden  in  a  corner.  It  has  drawn  to  itself 
alike  the  gaze  of  friends  and  foes.  It  can  no  longer  be  set  aside 
as  an  ephemeral  novelty  not  worth  regarding.  If  despised  or 
opposed  now,  it  must  be  for  some  other  reason  than  the  recent 
obscurity  of  its  origin  or  the  feebleness  and  inconsiderable  number 
of  its  adherents.  The  gospel  has  a  recognized  position  in  the 
world  and  a  history  which  is  known  and  read  of  all  men.  It  is 
one  of  the  forces  in  human  affi\irs  whose  potency  is  everywhere 
confessed.  No  one  now  questions  that  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  a 
power.  The  humble  teacher  of  Nazareth  has  set  a  force  in  opera- 
tion which  has  revolutionized  opinion,  shaped  the  i)olicy  of  em- 


SERMON.  83 

pires,  impressed  itself  upon  the  laws  and  institutions  of  powerful 
states.  It  represents  an  authority  to  which  millions  bow  with 
profound  reverence.  It  has  introduced  new  and  influential  ideas 
amongst  men.  It  has  overthrown  huge  systems  of  superstition 
and  falsehood.  It  has  broken  the  chains  of  the  oppressed  and  has 
mitigated  or  removed  moral  and  social  evils.  It  has  stimulated 
free  thought  and  free  inquiry.  It  has  contributed  to  tlie  increase 
and  diffusion  of  intelligence.  It  has  scattered  its  benefits  broadcast 
not  only  over  them  that  believe,  but  over  all  that  come  within  the 
reach  of  its  influence,  so  that  its  very  opposers  own  their  indebt- 
edness to  it  by  stocking  their  armory  with  weapons  which  it  has 
supplied  them,  and  make  tlieir  assaults  upon  it  from  a  vantage- 
ground  upon  which  it  has  placed  them.  If  the  adversaries  of  re- 
vealed religion  were  limited  to  such  methods  of  attack  as  paganism, 
ancient  or  modern,  can  suggest,  they  would  indeed  have  but  little 
that  is  formidable  about  tliem'. 

Men  do  homage  to  power,  and  they  reverence  the  gospel  for  the 
power  which  they  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  it  possesses, 
which  they  are  further  constrained  to  admit  is  a  power  for  good. 
They  confess  its  purity  and  beneficence.  They  laud  the  excellence 
of  its  moral  precepts.  They  will  go  to  almost  any  length  in  esti- 
mating the  benefits  which  it  has  conferred  upon  the  world.  But 
they  are  no  more  ready  now  than  they  were  in  the  days  of  Paul 
to  acknowledge  that  it  is  the  po\ver  of  God  in  any  special  or  super- 
natural sense,  much  less  that  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation; 
that  upon  its  acceptance  or  rejection  hinges  for  all  men  the  question 
of  salvation  or  perdition;  that  it  is  accordingly  absolutely  essential 
and  indispensable.     Yet  this  is  what  it  is. 

And  tliat  it  is  so  further  ai)pears  from  the  elements  which  con- 
stitute it.  The  gospel  of  Clu'ist  is  a  scheme  for  effectually  recon- 
ciling God  and  man.  This  naturally  suggests  its  division  into:  1, 
its  doctrine  concerning  man;  2,  its  doctrine  concerning  God ;  3,  its 
doctrine  concerning  the  reconciliation  of  God  and  man.  Each  of 
these  will  reveal  it  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every 
one  that  believeth.  The  theme  before  us  is  the  gospel,  not  in  the 
instruction  which  it  imparts,  its  capacity  to  enlighten,  guide,  and 
give  proper  direction  to  the  mind  and  heart  and  faculties  of  man; 
nor  in  the  vastness  and  variety  of  its  motives  and  the  unrivalled 
stimulus  which  they  afford,  leading  to  the  putting  forth  of  effort 


84  SERMON. 

and  the  vigorous  employment  of  all  the  powers  M'hich  man  pos- 
sesses; but  in  the  new  and  positive  accession  of  strength  which  it 
brings  and  the  achieving  of  results  which  man,  unaided  from  above, 
never  could  have  attained.  And  the  first  element  of  this  power  we 
may  find  in  the  gospel  doctrine  concerning  man.  It  teaches  man 
what  he  is  and  what  he  may  become,  and  thus  lifts  him  into  the 
possession  of  powers  and  faculties  to  which  he  was  previously  a 
stranger,  giving  him  the  use  and  mastery  of  forces  which  may  be 
said  to  have  had  a  potential  existence  before,  but  whose  energy 
could  never  otherwise  have  been  evoked.  The  word  of  the  gospel 
is  not  sim})le  instruction.  It  is  a  word  of  power,  a  formative  Avord. 
It  makes  man  what  it  declares  him  to  be.  It  brings  him  to  the 
conscious  possession  and  active  employment  of  powers  and  energies 
which  else  Avould  have  slumbered  unknown  and  unused,  and  to 
any  practical  and  valuable  purpose  non-existent.  The  savage  tribes 
which  once  roamed  over  this  continent  never  possessed  it.  They 
wandered  through  its  mighty  forests,  trod  upon  its  virgin  soil  teem- 
ing with  productive  power,  passed  and  repassed  over  its  inexhaust- 
ible stores  of  coal  and  its  rich  veins  of  precious  ore,  gazed  at  its 
waterfalls,  skimmed  the  surface  of  its  navigable  waters  with  their 
bark  canoes,  but  had  no  inkling  of  the  vast  resources  which  nature 
had  prodigally  lavished  everywhere  around  them,  and  they  never 
actually  developed  them.  They  may  have  handled  lumps  of  coal, 
but  they  could  not  unlock  the  power  latent  there  which,  converted 
into  steam-pressure,  is  driving  the  machinery  in  ten  thousand  manu- 
factories and  propelling  its  swift-wheeled  trains  along  every  avenue 
of  trade  and  travel.  Gold  and  silver  ore  may  have  served  them 
for  ornaments  and  gewgaws,  but  it  yielded  none  of  the  power  of 
money  and  accumulated  wealth,  that  mighty  spring  which  sets  all 
the  complicated  machinery  of  modern  life  in  motion.  It  is  thus 
that  each  advance  in  civilization,  all  the  progress  made  in  science 
and  the  arts,  has  been  putting  fresh  power  in  men's  hands.  It  has 
not  merely  communicated  knowledge  to  inform  the  mind ;  it  has 
not  merely  set  forth  additional  objects  of  desire  to  stimulate  and 
waken  effort;  it  has  imparted  power  to  achieve  results  which  no 
hand  or  arm  of  untutored  man  with  his  rude  implements  could 
ever  accomplish.  Thus  the  power  which  God  has  bountifully  stored 
up  in  the  world  is  placed  at  man's  disposal  and  converted  to  his 
use. 


SERMON.  85 

What  scienoe  tlms  achieves  with  regard  to  the  natural  forces  of 
the  world,  God's  revelation  accomplishes  in  respect  of  spiritual 
power.  The  gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every- 
one that  believeth  in  its  disclosures  respecting  man,  bringing  out 
into  conscious  existence  and  exercise  what  was  latent  and  inactive 
before.  This  might  be  insisted  on  in  regard  to  the  whole  round 
of  gospel  teaching  respecting  man,  his  nature,  condition,  and  rela- 
tions. 

Reference  shall  be  made  to  but  one  point,  the  immortality  of  man, 
the  eternal  life  which  is  his  inheritance,  as  revealed  in  the  gospel. 
What  new  dignity  and  greatness,  what  unimagined  enlargement  of 
soul  docs  it  bring  to  every  one  that  believeth  !  ISTot  that  it  was 
altogether  unknown  or  unsuspected  before  that  the  existence  of 
man  was  prolonged  beyond  the  present  life.  But  the  philoso})hical 
disputations  of  Socrates,  Plato,  and  Cicero,  the  shadowy  future  of 
the  Greek  and  Roman  religions,  the  retribution  expected  by'  the 
Egyptian,  and  the  transmigration  and  final  absorption  into  the 
infinite  credited  by  the  Oriental,  still  leave  the  eternal  life  of  the 
gospel  unique  and  unanticipated.  It  even  outdoes  all  the  glimpses 
and  intimations  of  the  Old  Testament  revelation.  This  belonged 
to  the  prophetic  teaching  of  Christ  and  the  preparation  for  his 
gospel,  as  the  morning  twilight  and  the  reddened  dawn  proceed 
from  the  sun  below  the  horizon.  But  this  twilight  is  greatly  infe- 
rior in  distinctness  and  power  to  the  blaze  of  day.  Suspended 
animation  only  then  bursts  into  fulness  of  life  when  the  sun 
appears. 

It  was  a  wholly  new  idea  that  the  true  life  was  the  life  with 
God ;  that  the  future  was  the  thing  to  be  desired  and  longed  for 
and  struggled  after;  that  present  afflictions  and  labors  were  light 
and  momentary  compared  with  the  unending  glory,  and  were 
even  to  be  welcomed  as  enhancing  it ;  that  an  unfading  crown  was 
just  at  hand,  and  was  the  prize  to  be  sought  above  all  things  else. 
A  new  value  attached  to  human  life  when  it  came  to  be  estimated, 
not  as  containing  in  itself  the  end  to  be  aimed  at,  the  sum  and 
total  of  human  possibilities,  but  as  the  starting-point,  the  hinge  of 
■  everlasting  issues.  This  lifts  man  into  a  totally  different  sphere, 
and  makes  of  him  quite  another  being,  not  the  mere  child  of  earth 
with  a  prospect  of  threescore  years  and  ten,  but  with  an  illimitable 
future  opening  before  him  and  with  capacities  and  activities  worthy 


86  SERMON. 

of  such  a  destiny.  Tliat  conception  of  man,  wliicli,  confounding 
the  outer  shell  with  the  inner  life,  links  liira  with  the  lower 
animals  and  regards  him  as  a  mere  animal  of  a  somewhat  hi";her 
type,  actually  degrades  him  into  that  which  it  represents  him  to 
be.  It  takes  from  him  every  object  upon  which  his  powers  can  be 
worthily  employed  and  every  opportunity  for  their  legitimate 
exercise.  Thus  dealt  with,  he  is  like  a  tree  of  the  forest  planted 
in  a  flower-pot,  cramped  and  hemmed  in,  with  no  room  for  expan- 
sion, his  life  hopelessly  stunted,  if  not  absolutely  stifled.  He  is 
incessantly  forming  plans  which  outreach  the  limits  to  which  he  is 
doomed;  his  budding  hopes  are  blasted  one  by  one;  he  can  send 
down  no  depth  of  root  to  sustain  him  M'hen  the  chilling  blasts  of 
calamity  sweep  over  him.  He  must  have  an  open  field  to  attain 
an  expanding  vigorous  life.  The  doctrine  of  immortality  gives  men 
something  worth  living  for,  something  that  deserves  the  noblest 
exertion  of  all  their  faculties.  It  evokes  every  dormant  power.  It 
raises  man  immeasurably  in  the  scale  of  being.  The  gospel  which 
reveals  it  is  the  power  of  God ;  and  it  is  the  power  of  God  unco 
salvation.  For  eternal  life  is  not  mere  continued  existence.  It 
is  a  pure,  holy,  ideal  life,  and  it  is  necessarily  formative  of  character 
from  the  conditions  of  attaining  it,  from  the  need  of  conformity  to 
it  in  order  to  enjoy  it,  and  from*  the  educating  effect  of  having  it 
before  the  mind.  He  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purifieth  him- 
self. 

Consider  again  the  power  that  there  is  in  the  gospel  doctrine 
concerning  God,  which  stands  in  absolute  contrast  with  the  im- 
potency  of  paganism  on  the  one  hand  and  of  materialism  on  the 
other.  It  is  not  merely  that  the  gospel  instructs  and  enlightens 
the  mind  on  this  most  important  of  all  subjects.  But  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  which  it  imparts  is  eternal  life.  It  is  vital,  trans- 
forming, energizing.  And  it  is  not  merely  that  there  is  a  stimulus 
of  incalculable  power  to  all  that  is  right  and  good  from  this  dis- 
closure of  the  holy  nature  of  God  in  its  innate  attractiveness,  in 
the  desire  which  it  enkindles  for  His  api)robation,  in  the  dread  of 
His  displeasure.  But  there  is  besides  the  direct  effect  produced 
on  the  soul  by  devout,  believing  intercourse  with  God,  by  intimate 
and  personal  communion  with  Him.  There  is  the  quickening,  life- 
giving  contact  with  Him  who  is  infinite  and  infinitely  perfect,  and 
who  infuses  His  own  divine  strcnirth  into  them  that  trust  in  Him. 


SERMON.  87 

He  who  believes  the  gospel  is  thereby  privileged  to  walk  with 
God;  he  is  lifted  into  companionship  with  the  Most  High.  What 
a  power  there  is  in  association  with  the  wise  and  good  and  great  of 
the  earth  ?  How  it  elevates  and  expands  the  soul,  enlarges  its 
conceptions,  places  new  possibilities  within  its  reach,  leads  to 
attainments  never  dreamed  of  before?  And  what  is  it  to  have 
God  for  a  friend,  guiding  our  thoughts,  instilling  His  sacred  in- 
fluence, pouring  into  us  His  ow^n  life  !  How  mightily  shall  we  be 
wrought  upon  by  every  object  that  surrounds  us  and  every  event 
that  befalls  us,  if  we  really  meet  with  God  at  every  turn,  see  Him 
in  all  things,  are  dealing  with  Him  every  day  and  every  hour, 
subject  ourselves  to  His  training  and  loving  discipline,  and  from 
the  ability  which  He  imparts  learn  to  do  and  learn  to  bear.  What 
an  enfeebling,  deadening  contrast  is  offered  by  that  speculative 
philosophy  or  that  practical  unbelief  which  empties  the  world  of 
Him  who  made  it,  and  leaves  only  the  contact  with  chance  or  fate, 
with  what  is  lifeless  and  meaningless,  and  leaves  the  soul  as  torpid 
as  it  found  it!  The  gospel  is  here  again  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation. 

See  once  more  the  power  that  there  is  in  the  gospel  doctrine  of 
the  reconciliation  of  God  and  man.  This  implies  that  they  were 
at  variance;  hopelessly  so,  so  far  as  man  himself  is  concerned, and 
that  they  can  be  brought  into  harmonious  union  in  this  way  alone. 
This  ruin  of  man  and  alienation  from  God,  the  gospel  discloses 
but  does  not  produce.  It  exists  independently  of  the  gospel 
wherever  man  is  found ;  only  without  the  gospel  there  is  no  cure 
for  it.  It  is  not  removed  by  denying  or  refusing  to  confess  its 
reality.  The  stubborn  fact  is  not  set  aside  because  men  shrink 
from  looking  it  in  the  face.  No  form  of  false  religi'm  can  heal 
our  disordered  nature;  no  human  training  or  culture;  no  good 
resolutions  or  efforts ;  no  penances  or  self-inflictions,  and  no  rites 
of  expiation  or  ablution.  The  one  only  and  effectual  remedy  is  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  In  Christ's  atoning  work  it  has  provided  an 
ample  satisfaction  to  the  broken  law  and  the  offended  justice  of 
God.  The  infinite  merit  of  this  divine  substitute  secures  pardon 
and  peace  with  God,  deliverance  from  guilt  and  from  the  everlast- 
ing consequences  of  sin,  and  gives  a  solid  title  to  the  favor  of  God 
and  eternal  life.  And  the  renewing  and  sanctifying  energy  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  transforms  the  soul  into  the  very  image  and   likeness 


88  SERMON. 

of  God,  confers  inward  holiness,  and  makes  the  man  meet  for  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light. 

This  gospel  doctrine  is  not  mere  instruction  as  to  a  method  by 
which  men  can  attain  salvation.  It  not  merely  enlightens  their 
darkness,  it  is  life  from  the  dead.  It  actually  imparts  what  it 
reveals.  It  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth. 

But  may  this  not  be  only  a  splendid  illusion  after  all  ?  It  has  the 
power  over  the  mind  and  heart  of  grand  ideas,  of  a  magnificent 
conception.  It  holds  out  the  most  enchanting  prospects  ;  it  is  pre- 
cisely adapted  to  human  wants  ;  it  meets  every  craving  of  the  soul ; 
it  solves  that  pressing,  but,  as  it  M'ould  seem,  insoluble  problem. 
How  can  the  sinner  be  saved  from  sin  and  from  wrath?  It  is  a 
scheme  at  once  most  ample  and  minute,  which  offers  a  supply  for 
every  individual  need,  and  which  surpasses  imagination  itself  in  the 
largeness  of  its  bountiful  provision,  which  j)ro})oses  to  do  exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  that  we  can  ask  or  think.  But  is  it  real  ?  is  it 
solid  fact?  Can  we  commit  ourselves  to  it  in  the  unshaken  confi- 
dence that  it  can  accomplish  all  that  it  proposes  ?  Is  it  the  verit- 
able power  of  God?  or  is  the  only  power  that  it  possesses  that 
which  it  exerts  upon  the  imagination  and  the  soul  of  man  ?  Every 
instinct  of  our  moral  nature  cri^s  out  that  what  is  so  true  and  so 
good,  so  worthy  of  God,  so  suited  to  the  necessities  of  man  must 
be  true.  Still  the  ultimate  and  decisive  proof  that  the  gospel  is  the 
power  of  God  is  to  be  drawn,  not  from  the  mere  inspection  of  the 
gospel  itself,  bat  from  seeing  it  in  operation.  Power  produces 
effects,  and  the  reality  and  amount  of  the  power  is  shown  by  ex- 
hibiting these  effects.  It  is  all  very  well  to  study  the  construction 
of  an  engine,  to  observe  the  adjustment  of  its  parts  and  learn  the 
theory  of  its  working,  but  the  conclusive  test  is  the  practical  one. 
What  does  it  actually  do?  Is  the  gospel  not  merely  a  system  of 
fine  ideas,  but  is  it  mighty  through  God  to  accomplish  results  ? 
Is  it  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  ?  This  is  the  question 
which  speculative  opposers  force  home  upon  us,  and  which  the 
practical  unbeliever  needs  to  feel  to  rouse  him  to  embrace  its  blessed 
provisions. 

It  will  not  be  sufficient  for  us  here  to  make  our  appeal  exclu- 
sively to  the  past,  to  the  supernatural  evidence  which  attended  the 
original   comnmnication   of  the  gospel,  those  miraculous  works 


SERMON.  89 

which  gave  divine  attestation  to  the  truth  that  Jesus  was  indeed 
the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Nor  will  it  be  suffi- 
cient to  make  our  appeal  to  the  future,  to  the  vindication  at  the 
bar  of  God  and  the  endless  glory  there  adjudged,  that  blessed  hope 
of  the  gospel,  armed  with  which  the  believer  triumphs  over  death 
and  can  calmly  meet  the  last  of  foes  confident  of  victory. 

The  point  before  us  is  not  merely  that  the  gospel  was  the  power 
of  God  many  centuries  ago ;  nor  that  it  will  be  the  power  of  God 
in  the  unseen  hereafter.  Skeptical  misgiving  might  plead  in  re- 
gard to  the  former  the  dim  obscurity  which  overhangs  remote 
agps;  and  in  regard  to  the  latter  that  the  future  is  beyond  the 
reach  of  human  sense.  But  the  declaration  of  the  text  remains 
unchanged.  The  gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.  It 
is  so  now,  as  truly  as  it  was  when  these  words  were  originally 
penned.  And  the  experience  of  its  power  to  save  in  your  own 
case  is  the  only  thing  that  can  give  you  that  thorough  persuasion 
of  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  that  firm  adherence  to  it  in  the  face  of 
all  opposition  and  that  intense  earnestness  in  its  defence  and  prop- 
agation, which  so  characterized  the  apostle  Paul. 

This  inward  personal  experience  of  the  salvation  of  the  gospel 
is  the  only  thing  which  can  make  you  a  partaker  of  its  present  and 
everlasting  benefits.  Great  as  are  the  temporal  advantages  which 
the  possession  of  the  gospel  has  brought  you,  you  fail  to  secure 
what  is  most  essential  to  yourself,  and  what  is  the  real  end  for 
which  it  was  given  you  unless  you  gain  a  practical  acquaintance 
with  its  saving  power.  Believing  it,  you  shall  find  it  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation  to  yourself. 

And  if  you  have  in  truth  embraced  the  gospel  and  experienced 
its  healing  efficacy,  you  still  have  need  to  apply  to  it  afresh.  You 
are  still  compassed  with  infirmities ;  you  have  your  daily  sins,  and 
temptations,  and  tasks,  and  difficulties,  and  doubts,  and  fears. 
Here  is  precisely  the  help  that  you  require.  Dip  yourself  not  once, 
but  like  ISTaaman  seven  times  in  the  Jordan.  You  have  not  yet 
learned  all  that  the  gospel  can  accomplish  on  your  behalf,  nor  ex- 
perienced its  full  power  to  save.  There  is  more  efficacy  in  it,  and 
more  adaptation  to  your  ever-pressing  necessities  than  you  have 
ever  felt  or  imagined. 

And  as  it  is  by  faith  in  the  gospel  and  in  that  blessed  Saviour 
who  is  himself  the  sum  and  substance  of  it  that  you  come  into  the 


90  SERMON. 

experience  of  its  divnne  power  to  save,  so  again  this  experience  of  its 
saving  power  will  lend  new  confirmation  to  your  faith.  This  prac- 
tical acquaintance  with  the  power  of  the  gospel  upon  your  own 
heart  is  the  surest  defence  against  the  assaults  of  skepticism  and 
infidelity.  The  most  unanswerable  of  all  arguments  is  that  of  the 
blind  man,  whom  Jesus  had  restored  to  sight,  "  Why  herein  is  a 
marvellous  thing,  that  ye  know  not  from  whence  he  is,  and  yet  he 
hath  opened  mine  eyes!"  He  is  most  surely  entrenched  against 
all  subtleties  of  opposition,  who  has  found  Jesus  to  be  in  his  own 
case  a  divine  Saviour. 

This  church  celebrates  to-day  the  completion  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  during  which  the  gospel  has  been  faithfully  preached 
among  you.  You  have  seen  what  it  has  acconiplished  here.  You 
are  witnesses  of  its  power  to  elevate,  to  purify,  and  bless.  The 
record  of  these  years  adds  its  testimony  to  that  of  all  the  ages  that 
have  passed  since  the  first  proclamation  of  this  word  of  heavenly 
truth.  It  has  reclaimed  transgressors.  It  has  planted  the  seeds 
of  holiness  in  the  uncongenial  soil  of  human  hearts  and  has  warmed 
them  into  a  viijorous  p-rowth.  It  has  refined  and  ennobled  char- 
acter.  It  has  fed  the  life  of  many  an  humble  child  of  God,  It 
has  shed  its  fragrance  over  many  homes,  which  it  has  made  happy. 
It  has  stimulated  to  generous  ^eeds  of  beneficence,  to  unselfish 
labors  for  the  good  of  others,  from  whom  no  return  is  sought  or 
expected.  It  has  given  cheerfulness  in  adversity,  resignation  under 
affliction,  triumph  in  the  hour  of  death. 

Encouraged  by  these  tokens  of  the  manifest  power  of  the  gospel 
amongst  you  in  the  past,  you  uplift  your  banner  to-day  thankfully 
saying,  "  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us."  And  you  enter  upon 
the  new  period  in  the  life  of  this  church,  which  now  opens  before 
you,  confiding  in  the  gospel  in  which  you  have  trusted  hitherto. 
This  gospel  you  are  to  hold  up  before  men  in  its  purity,  precious- 
ness,  and  power;  not  merely  affirming  that  it  is  the  power  of  God, 
but  showing  it  to  be  so  by  being  yourselves  living  epistles  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  that  may  be  known  and  read  of  all ;  making  that  con- 
viction of  the  saving  energy  of  the  gospel,  which  it  has  produced 
in  you,  appear  to  others  for  their  conviction  and  salvation;  mani- 
festing it  to  be  in  its  effect  upon  you  what  it  truly  is,  and  proving 
by  its  practical  working  in  your  own  case  its  adaptation  to  every 
human  need.    Thus  shall  you  be  preaching  the  gospel  to  all  around. 


SERMOISr.  9 1 

j^ou  in  the  most  effective  manner,  convinced  tliat  it  is  for  all  men, 
as  it  has  been  for  you,  life  and  salvation;  and  that  even  they  who 
are  now  indifferent  and  care  for  none  of  these  things,  and  they  who 
deride  and  oppose  the  gospel  and  in  their  blind  unbelief  reason,  as 
they  suppose,  conclusively  against  it,  are  nevertheless  in  the  deepest 
need  of  this  very  gospel  which  they  despise  and  reject;  a  need  of 
which  they  may  now  be  unconscious,  but  which,  nevertheless,  exists 
and  is  patent  to  you,  and  may  by  God's  grace,  and  the  demonstra- 
tion of  his  Spirit  accompanying  the  faithful  exhibition  of  his  truth, 
be  shown  to  them  and  awakened  in  them,  so  that  they  shall  be 
brought  to  crave  just  what  you  bring  them  and  to  be  sensible  of 
wants  which  this  can  satisfy  and  this  alone;  and  thus  they,  too, 
shall  be  brought  to  believe  and  be  saved.  And  in  this  way  you 
will  learn  never  to  distrust  the  power  of  the  gospel,  but  to  possess 
the  readiness,  whicli  the  apostle  expresses  in  the  text,  as  much  as 
in  you  is,  to  make  the  gospel  known  to  men  of  every  race  and  of 
every  grade,  and  never  abandon  hope  in  regard  to  any  living  man, 
however  hopeless  his  case  may  be  to  human  view,  for  the  gospel 
is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth. 


ilonk^  Attuning  ^r^rmi$. 
- — *  •  •  ■  > — 

WEDDING  MARCH, 

jMr.  Frederick  T.  Baker,  Organist  of  the  Church. 

ANTHEM.— "O  Lord,  our  Governor," Gadsby. 

PRAYER, 

Rev.  Charles  A.  Dickey,  D.D. 

INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS, 

GuSTAVus  S.  Benson,  Esq.,  President  of  Board  of  Trustees. 

ANTHEM.— "The  Lord  is  Great," Righini. 

PRESENTATION  OF  TESTIMONIAL  TO  THE  PASTOR, 

George  Junkin,  Esq. 

RESPONSE  BY  THE  PASTOR, 

Rev.  William  P.  Breed,  D.D. 

"GLORIA," Mozart. 

ADDRESS  BY  THE  PASTOR  OF  THE  PARENT  CHURCH, 

Rev.  John  De  Witt,  D.D.,  Tenth  Presbyterian  Church. 

ADDRESS  FROM  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION, 
Rev.  J.  Addison  Henry,  D.D. 

"  HALLELUJAH  CHORUS," Handel. 

ADDRESSES, 

William  Allen  Butler,  LL.D.,  New  York, 

Rev.  O.  H.  Tiffany,  D.D.,  Arch  Street  M.  E.  Church, 

Rev.  p.  S.  Henson,  D.D.,  Memorial  Baptist  Church. 

HYMN.— By  the  Choir  and  Audience. 
DOXOLOGY.— By  the  Choir  and  Audience. 

RECEPTION  BY  THE  PASTOR. 


MONDAY  EVENING  EXERCISES. 


Upon  the  extended  platform,  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  were  seated 
the  officers  of  the  church  (its  elders,  deacons,  and  trustees),  the  ora- 
tors of  the  occasion  and  invited  guests,  among  whom  were  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Session  of  the  parent  church. 

The  music  of  the  evening  was  artistically  rendered  by  the  choir 
of  St.  James  Church,  led  by  Professor  Giles,  whose  efficient  ser- 
vices and  those  of  the  choir  were  kindly  volunteered. 

At  the  appointed  hour  Dr.  Breed  arrived  at  the  church,  under 
the  escort  of  a  committee  appointed  to  attend  him  from  his  resi- 
dence to  the  church,  which  consisted  of  Messrs.  John  D.  MeCord, 
Henry  D.  Sherrerd,  Isaac  S.  Sharp,  Frank  K.  Hippie,  and  Doctors 
Albert  Heyl  and  Hilburn  West.  The  joyous  notes  of  the  "  Wed- 
ding March"  pealed  forth  from  the  organ  as  the  honored  pastor 
was  accompanied  to  the  seat  assigned  him  on  the  platform. 

The  meeting  was  then  called  to  order  by  Gustavus  S.  Benson, 
Esq.,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  who  presided. 

The  anthem,  "O  Lord,  our  Governor"  (Gadsby),  was  sung  with 
fine  effect,  and  then  Rev.  Charles  A.  Dickey,  D.D.,  of  Calvary 
Church,  addressed  the  throne  of  grace  in  the  following 

Prayer. 

Oh,  Lord !  Thou  hast  been  our  dwelling-place  in  all  genera- 
tions. Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth ;  before  thou 
hadst  formed  the  earth,  from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  thou  art 
God.  Our  lives,  O  God,  are  in  thy  hands,  and  in  thy  hands  we 
would  wish  them  ever  to  be ;  for  thou  art  God  thyself  alone,  and 
away  from  thee  there  is  no  safety.  We  adore  and  bless  thee  as 
God  over  all  and  blessed  forever  more.  We  adore  and  bless  and 
praise  thy  wondrous  name  for  all  the  glorious  works  of  thy 
hands.     Above  all  else  do  we  lift  our  hearts  in  gratitude  and  joy 


96  MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES. 

lo-niglit  for  the  wonderful  plan  of  redemption  thou  hast  wrought 
out  through  Jesus  Clirist,  thy  Son,  our  Saviour. 

Lord,  we  bless  thee  tliat  thou  didst  in  the  beginnings  of  the  sins 
of  men  reveal  to  them  a  gracious  Saviour.  We  bless  thee  that 
in  the  be<'-innings  of  the  world  thou  didst  establish  thy  church. 
We  thank  thee  that  thou  didst  call  the  faithful  to  thyself  and 
bestow  upon  them  grace  and  blessing.  We  thank  thee,  Oh  God ! 
that  thou  didst  fill  the  hearts  of  thy  chosen  ones  with  the  joys  of 
many  promises.  We  bless  and  praise  thee  that  thou  didst  keep 
thy  waiting  church,  and  fill  it  with  hope  and  expectation.  We 
bless  thee  that  in  the  fulness  of  time  Christ  came. 

Lord,  we  bless  thee  that  He  hath  laid  so  firmly  and  fixedly  and 
eternally  the  foundations  of  the  church  in  Himself.  AVe  thank  thee 
that  this  goodly  temple,  in  which  we  dwell  and  of  which  Ave  are 
living  stones,  hath  the  apostles  and  prophets  for  its  foundation. 
And,  above  all,  we  bless  thee  that  it  hath  for  its  chief  corner-stone 
Jesus  Christ  himself.  We  bless  thee  for  the  assurance  that  this 
temple  shall  grow,  fitly  framed  together,  into  a  glorious  temple  for 
thy  praise  and  for  our  everlasting  abiding-place.  We  bless  thee, 
Oh  God !  for  all  thy  mercies  shown  to  this  church  universal.  We 
thank  thee  for  the  fathers  and  for  the  reformers.  We  thank 
thee  for  the  martyrs  and  for  alb  the  examples  of  the  past.  We 
bless  thee  that  the  gates  of  hell  have  not  prevailed  against  thy 
church.  We  bless,  thee,  oh,  God  !  for  thy  goodness  to  the  whole 
household  of  faith;  and  to-night,  in  our  own  joys  and  in  our 
own  blessings  and  promises  and  gifts,  we  desire  to  reach  out 
our  hands  in  sympathy  and  in  love  to  all  who  love  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Oh,  fill  us  with  the  spirit  of  catholic  charity,  and  may  the 
whole  world,  through  the  instrumentalities  thou  hast  appointed, 
by  the  ministry  of  men,  through  the  power  of  the  Sj)irit,  come 
unto  thee  according  to  thy  wish. 

We  bless  thee  for  thy  goodness  to  the  church  with  which  we 
are  most  intimately  connected.  We  thank  thee,  Lord,  for  the 
memories  of  the  past,  for  the  men  that  are  gone.  We  thank  thee 
for  all  the  history  that  is  so  precious,  for  all  the  saints  who  have 
been  so  full  of  power  and  have  gone  to  glory.  We  thank  thee, 
Oh  God,  that  thou  art  granting  unto  us  as  a  church  so  many  as- 
surances and  so  many  blessings.  We  bless  thee  for  thy  goodness 
to  this  particular  (church.     Lord,  we  thank  thee  that  this  vine  of 


MOXDAY    EVENIXG    EXERCISES.  97 

thy  planting  hath  had  such  good  growth.  We  thank  thee  that  it 
hath  grown  to  thy  praise  and  honor  and  gh^ry.  We  thank  thee 
for  all  that  this  Christian  household  hath  been,  for  these  many 
years,  to  those  who  have  enjoyed  it  and  shared  its  privileges.  We 
thank  thee  for  the  memory  of  their  own  dead.  ^Ve  thank  thee 
for  all  that  is  blessed  in  their  histoiy.  We  thank  thee  for  all 
that  there  is  in  their  present  position  that  is  hopeful.  God,  our 
Father,  we  bless  thee  for  thy  goodness  to  thy  servant,  the  pastor 
of  this  church.  We  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  spared  his  life  ; 
that  thou  hast  filled  him  with  labor ;  that  thou  hast  given 
him  many  blessings ;  that  thou  hast  given  him  the  joy  of  many 
crowns,  the  crowns  of  tiiose  whom  he  hath  led  to  Christ,  and 
the  crown  of  gratitude  of  the  people  to  whom  he  has  ministered. 
We  thank  thee  to-night  that  thou  art  willing  to  put  upon  his 
head  this  crown  of  which  he  is  worthy,  this  symbol  of  the 
service  of  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  Lord  bless  him  and 
keep  him,  and  make  His  face  to  sliine  upon  him  and  be  gracious 
unto  him  and  give  him  peace.  May  he  and  his  people  take 
hands  more  warmly,  and  gain  great  strengtli  in  the  service  of  this 
night  and  of  yesterday  that  shall  abide  with  them  many  years. 
Water  them  with  the  dews  of  thy  grace.  When  thy  servant 
hath  finished  his  labors,  give  him  entrance  into  his  reward,  and 
may  he  have  that  blessing,  which  is  above  all  other  blessings,  that 
crown  that  is  brighter  than  all  other  crowns,  and  the  joy  that  ex- 
celleth  all  other  joys  of  meeting  in  thine  own  presence  at  last 
those  whom  he  hath  led  by  the  spirit  of  thy  grace. 

And  now  the  Lord  grant  us  his  blessing.  Give  us  grace  to 
enjoy  and  grace  to  share  one  another's  joy ;  and  at  last,  O 
Lord,  bring  us  with  thy  glorious  church,  and  with  thy  ransomed 
and  redeemed  ones,  to  an  eternal  rest  and  reward  ;  and  the  glory 
and  the  praise  shall  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the 
Holy  Spirit,  world  without  end.     Amen. 

Introductory  Remarks  by  Gustavus  S.  Benson,  Esq. 

Mr.  Benson  (the  Chairman)  briefly  addressed  the  audience  as 
follows  : 

I  have  been  requested,  in  a  very  few  words,  to  tell  you  why  it 
is  that  we  have  gathered  together.  JS' o  elaborate  explanation  is 
needed,  for  the  cause  of  this  meeting  is  before  you  in  letters  of 

7 


98  MONDAY    EVENING    EXERCISES. 

living  fire  (indicating  the  words  formed  by  gas  jets  overhead) : 
"  185G-1881 — Our  first  and  only  pastor  J"  You  are  therefore 
here  to-night  to  celebrate  the  silver  wedding  of  the  pastor  to  the 
pastorate  of  your  church. 

When  we  called  to  mind  that  this  day  was  approaching,  the 
Session  of  this  cliurch  very  properly  prepared  the  church  for  a 
service  on  Sabbath  day,  the  3d  of  April,  to  commemorate  a  re- 
markable coincidence.  Twenty- five  years  ago,  thirty-four  persons 
were  organized  by  our  l*resbytery  into  the  AVest  Spruce  Street 
Presbyterian  Church,  at  a  meeting  in  the  lecture-room  of  Dr. 
Boardman's  church,  and  twenty-eight  of  those  persons  were  at  tliat 
time  present.  At  the  same  meeting  this  newly  organized  church 
called  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  P.  Breed  to  be  its  pastor,  so  that  the 
first  day  of  the  life  of  the  church  and  the  first  day  of  his  pastorate 
were  the  same.  In  talking  of  this  approaching  event  among  the 
congregation  we  found  that  our  people  had  made  up  their  minds 
to  have  something  to  do  in  the  way  of  a  celebration  of  it.  The 
Board  of  Trustees  accordingly  held  a  meeting,  at  which  fifteen 
members  were  present,  when,  without  a  dissenting  voice,  it  was 
determined  to  hold  a  congregational  meeting  to  decide  upon  what 
measures  should  be  taken  to  celebrate  the  remarkable  occasion. 
This  was  done,  and  the  meeting  Vhich  followed,  with  entire  unan- 
imity, and,  moved  by  a  spontaneous  and  all-pervading  impulse  of 
affection  for  their  pastor,  determined  to  carry  out  the  plans  then 
projected.  As  the  result  of  the  execution  of  those  plans  we  be- 
hold this  great  assembly,  this  ornamented  church,  these  speakers 
and  these  services  which  are  intended  to  honor  this  day. 

That  which  impresses  us  in  all  this  is  the  fact  that  there  must 
be  some  moving  principle  in  it  all,  that  there  must  be  something 
not  apparent  which  has  stirred  up  these  people,  as  with  one  heart, 
to  come  forward  and  show  their  love  and  affection  for  their  pastor. 
Himself  of  a  loving  and  sympathetic  nature,  the  most  ardent  desire 
of  his  soul  to  save  souls,  he  has  brought  into  this  church,  since  he 
has  been  the  pastor  of  it,  some  six  hundred  people,  whose  conver- 
sion under  God  has  been  brought  about  through  his  instrumentality. 
His  example  has  made  this  a  working  church.  The  names  of  those 
of  its  members  who  have  worked  the  hardest  in  their  own  church 
appear  upon  the  rolls  of  managers  of  our  benevolent  societies,  of 


MONDAY    EVENING    EXERCISES.  99 

our  hospitals,  of  the  boards  of  our  church.  Indeed,  I  might  almost 
say  that  wherever  in  this  city  good  works  are  to  be  done,  there  you 
will  find  the  names  of  the  members  of  this  church. 

He  has  made  this  people  a  liberal  people.  It  is  said  of  the 
celebrated  Dr.  Adam  Clark,  a  great  Methodist  commentator,  one  of 
the  most  learned  men  of  his  day,  that  when  one  of  his  cong-reration 
came  to  his  study  and  told  him  with  great  glee  a  certain  man,  noted 
alike  for  his  wealth  and  his  parsimony,  had  been  converted,  the 
doctor  very  quietly  turned  around  and  asked,  "  Have  you  converted 
his  purse?"  Knowing  the  man,  as  he  did,  and  having  little  confi- 
dence in  the  genuineness  of  the  professions  of  one  whose  illiberality 
was  proverbial,  the  doctor  believed  that  the  surest  test  of  such  a 
man's  conversion  was  the  one  which  involved  a  tax  upon  his  purse. 
But  in  the  present  instance,  our  pastor  is  one  of  whom  I  may  safely 
say  that,  in  making  conversions  of  his  people,  he  has  converted 
their  purses.  No  church  other  than  this  responds  more  quickly  to 
any  appeal  that  is  made  to  them  for  benevolent  or  religious  pur- 
poses ;  and  the  records  of  the  General  Assembly  will  show  that  in 
point  of  liberality,  considered  with  respect  to  its  proportionate  size 
and  wealth,  this  church  has  not  been  behind  any  of  our  sister 
churches. 

He  has  made  this  a  loving  church.  Perhaps,  in  a  larger  degree 
than  is  generally  the  case  in  a  city  church,  this  church  is  like  one 
great  Christian  family.  The  attachment  of  its  people  to  their 
church  and  to  their  pastor  is  so  pronounced  as  to  be  remarkable; 
and  I  was  never  more  impressed  with  this  fact  than  when,  in  the 
preparations  for  what  I  may  call  this  family  celebration,  the  entire 
unanimity  and  enthusiasm  of  the  church  gave  evidence  of  the  love 
of  its  people  for  their  pastor  and  of  their  love  for  one  another. 

In  view  of  the  many  exercises  to  follow,  I  will  not  detain  you 
further.  My  object  was  merely  to  tell  you  why  we  are  gathered 
here  together,  why  this  large  assembly  has  been  convoked,  and 
why  the  members  of  this  church  are  to-night  such  a  happy  people; 
and  I  will  now  only  add  that  w'e  say  to  you  who  are  not  members 
of  this  church,  "  We  give  you  a  most  cordial  and  a  most  hearty 
welcome  to  this,  our  love-feast." 

The  anthem,  "  The  Lord  is  Great "  (Righini),  was  rendered  by 
the  choir  and  followed  by  the 


100  monday  eyenixg  exercises. 

Presentatiox  of  Testimonial  to  the  Pastor. 

George  Junkin,  Esq.,  who  had  been  deputed  to  perform  this 
duty,  said : 

We  commemorate  the  formation  of  this  Christian  church  and 
its  first  and  only  pastorate. 

Twenty-five  years  have  glided  swiftly  by  since  these  both  had 
their  being.  And  now,  on  the  summit  of  this  height  of  progress, 
we  stand,  as  upon  the  top  of  some  towering  hill,  and  turn,  and  look 
back  over  the  way  the  Lord  has  led  us. 

Surely  goodness  and  mercy  have  followed  us  during  all  these 
years.  And,  whilst  we  have  cause  to  regret  that  our  progress  and 
success  have  not  been  as  great  as  our  opportunities,  yet,  in  the 
retrospect,  we  have  reason  to  thank  God,  that  so  mucli  has  here 
been  accomplished  in  His  name  and  by  His  power. 

We  look  back  across  this  \vide  sea  of  twenty-five  years,  and  can- 
not fail  to  discern  His  form  ever  near  us,  Whose  voice  alone  has 
stilled  the  waves  of  human  commotion  and  strife,  and  made  our 
voyage  as  calm  as  was  the  sea  of  Gennesaret  when  He  said,  "  Peace 
—Be  still." 

How  small  was  the  little  company  of  thirty-four  noble  men, 
and  no  less  noble  women,  who  gathered  together  and  went  forth 
from  their  old  church  home  to  build  a  house  for  themselves.  It 
was  hard  thus  to  sunder  ties,  whose  tendrils  had  been  the  growth 
of  years,  and  to  leave  the  sacred  communion  table,  where  many 
had  first  confessed,  and  to  hear  no  more  the  words  of  him,  who, 
for  so  long  a  period,  had  been  .the  Pastor  of  their  early  choice,  and 
a  Prince  among  the  ministers  of  the  glorious  gospel.  But,  urged 
on  by  his  tender,  yet  commanding  voice,  and  heeding  the  higher 
call  of  duty  to  Him,  Whose  they  were  and  Whom  they  served,  they 
went  forth;  and  here,  on  this  spot,  where  we  now  stand,  they  laid 
the  foundation  of  a  Church  of  Christ,  which  will  be  their  monu- 
ment until  the  end  of  time. 

Two  of  these  are  still  of  us,  thank  God ;  and  some,  although 
called  to  other  locations,  have  felt  the  drawings  of  their  early  love, 
bringing  them  back  here  to-night,  to  mingle  their  rejoicings  with 
ours  upon  this  commemorative  day.  We  give  them  most  hearty 
welcome.  And  may  it  be  long  before  the  survivors  of  this  origi- 
nal band  exchange  the  cross  for  the  crown. 


MONDAY    EVENING   EXEECISES.  101 

But,  as  I  gaze  back,  I  seem  to  miss  the  forms  of  many  who  were 
here  w^hen  this  first  Pastor  was  called,  and  this  church  began  its 
existence.  Is  it  the  mist  that  grows  out  of  the  lengthening  vista 
of  years,  or  the  dewyness  of  tears,  which  hides  them  from  my  eyes? 
In  the  dimness  I  think  I  see  the  silver-haired  Mercer,  the  classic 
brow  and  head  of  Hart,  the  noble,  generous-hearted  Patterson,  the 
sage  Vogdes,  the  skilful  Miller,  and  many  more  whose  forms  were 
so  familiar  and  so  loved. 

Ah!  I  dream.  They  all  are  not,  for  God  has  taken  them. 
Some,  like  them  of  old,  were  translated.  And  while  we  cannot 
but  gaze  wistfully  after  them,  and  almost  mourn  that  we  see  them 
no  more,  yet  we  must  not,  we  should  not,  when  we  remember  how 
well  they  wrought  out  their  life's  work,  and  especially  when  we 
remember,  how  they  labored  here,  and  with  what  glorious  results. 

But  sad  memory  makes  me  linger  too  long  over  the  early  rem- 
iniscences that  crowd  upon  the  mind.     Let  us  hasten  on. 

Organized  twenty-five  years  ago  with  so  small  a  number,  this 
Church  has  steadily  grown  and  gone  forward.  It  is  not  needful 
that  I  should  here  give  its  statistics.  These  have  already  been 
furnished  by  our  Pastor  in  his  usual  careful  way.  All  the  ordi- 
nary services  of  a  working  church  have  been  kept  up  with  un- 
flagging interest.  The  lecture  and  weekly  prayer-meeting,  the 
Sabbath-school  with  all  its  usual  concomitants,  the  Dorcas  and 
Missionary  societies,  and  the  social  receptions,  all  have  held  their 
places  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of  this  people.  Year  after  year 
the  various  Boards  of  our  beloved  Church  have  been  generously  re- 
membered; and  whilst  our  whole  duty  has  not  been  done,  before 
men,  we  have  no  cause  to  be  ashamed. 

Almost  twenty-five  years  have  gone  since  on  May  18th,  1856, 
the  first  religious  service  was  held  in  yonder  beautiful  and  home- 
like Lecture-room,  and  the  first  gathering  of  the  children  and  youth 
in  the  large  and  commodious  Sabbath-school  room  in  the  second 
story. 

More  than  twenty-four  years  have  glided  by,  since  this  splendid 
House  of  God  was  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  Most  High. 

And  jnstly  are  we  satisfied  in  these  most  comfortable  and  ele- 
gant church  homes.  Here  have  the  solemn  services  of  the  sanc- 
tuary been  statedly  and  unremittedly  held  during  these  years.  In 
all  their  appointments  they  are  complete.     The  graceful  spire  lifts 


102  MONDAY    EVENIInG    EXERCISES. 

its  head  nearest  to  the  sky  of  all  the  edifices  of  any  kind  in  this 
great  city.  This  blue-vaulted  ceiling-  and  these  graceful  arches 
are  unique  and  a  joy  to  look  ui)on.  These  pews  are  the  most  de-. 
lightful  and  comfortable  of  any  in  any  church,  here  or  elsewhere. 
And  its  grand  organ,  first  touched  by  the  skilful  hand  of  my  dear 
friend  and  that  gifted  musical  genius,  John  E.  Gould,  and  mel- 
lowed by  twenty  years'  service,  is  unexcelled  for  quality  and  sweet- 
ness and  richness  of  tone,  by  any  similar  instrument,  in  this  or  in 
foreign  lands  that  I  have  been  privileged  to  hear;  and  I  have  sat 
enchanted  at  Fribourg,  Geneva,  and  Lucerne. 

And  better  than  all  this,  upon  this  splendid  Sanctuary,  with  all 
its  accompaniments,  there  exists  no  debt.  No  ground  rent  is  be- 
neath this  church  and  lecture-room,  with  its  gnawing  and  ever- 
recurring  instalments  to  swallow  up  this  splendid  superstructure ; 
and  no  mortgage,  like  a  wet  blanket,  rests  upon  this  vaulted  roof, 
to  muffle  the  organ's  sweet  tones,  and  stifle  out  the  Christian  life  that 
here  grows  hard  by  the  oracle  of  God. 

This  Christian  congregation  has  given  all  this  cheerfully,  gladly, 
and  with  grateful  hearts,  and  they  have  held  back  nothing  of  all 
its  cost  from  Him,  Whose  they  are  and  Whom  they  serve.  From 
pinnacle  to  foundation  stone  all  is  His. 

Nor  have  we  been  prospered  merely  in  temporal  affairs.  If  this 
were  all  in  which  we  had  been  blest,  then  the  results  would  scarcely 
equal  the  outlay  of  labor  and  money.  But  in  spiritual  matters 
God  has  indeed  been  in  our  midst.  Year  by  year  the  Gospel  has 
been  here  faithfully  proclaimed,  and  saints  have  been  built  up, 
and  many  souls  have  been  saved.  Scarce  a  communion  service  has 
been  held  when  converts  have  not  come,  and  on  more  than  one 
occasion  this  aisle  has  been  filled  with  many,  who,  for  the  first  time 
acknowledged  Christ  before  men.  And,  M'hcn  I  look  over  the 
conffretration,  I  see  more  than  one  household,  all  of  whose  mem- 
bers  have  been  brought  into  the  church,  so  that  they  became  bound 
to  each  other,  not  only  by  the  bonds  of  earthly  and  human  affec- 
tion, but  by  the  stronger  cords  woven  of  Christian  love,  whose 
strands  will  outlast  the  tension  of  every  earthly  trial. 

It  Avere  a  pleasing  duty  to  recount  all  the  experiences  of  our 
Christian  home-life  here  during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century. 
How  the  sweet  memories  of  the  loved  ones  who  have  been  with  us 
and  are  not,  crowd  upon  the  thoughts  !    But  I  cannot  trust  myself, 


MONDAY    EVENING    EXERCISES.  103 

nor  will  I  tread  upon  this  too  sacred  ground  in  such  a  large  and 
public  assembly.  Joy,  and  peace,  and  love,  have  here  been,  with 
them  and  us,  our  constant  guests.  And,  so  far  as  I  can  now  re- 
member, we  have  no  cause  to  mourn  over  any  one  who  has  ever 
been  a  member  of,  or  a  worshipper  in,  this  Christian  household,  as 
a  prodigal  or  a  lost  one. 

In  one  respect  our  history  has  been  most  remarkable.  In  our 
Session,  our  Board  of  Deacons,  our  Board  of  Trustees,  our  Con- 
gregational meetings,  our  Bible  classes,  our  Dorcas  Society,  our 
Missionary  Society,  our  Sabbath -school,  our  Sabbath-school  Asso- 
ciation, our  Sewing  School,  our  Choir  (and  it  has  always  been  a  vol- 
untary one),  and  in  our  whole  congregation  we  have  never  had 
a  division,  a  quarrel,  a  discord,  a  strife,  a  scandal,  a  divided  vote, 
a  sense  of  alienation  !  The  current  of  our  whole  life  has  flowed 
on  like  a  river,  unbroken  by  a  storm,  and  unchecked  by  an  ob- 
struction. 

God's  peace  has  been  upon  us.  "  My  peace  I  leave  with  you." 
How  truly  have  these  words  of  our  dear  Master  been  fulfilled  in 
our  experience  during  all  the  weeks,  and  months,  and  years  of  this 
quarter  of  a  century  ! 

And  to  what  shall  we  attribute  this  blessed  experience?  Not  to 
us,  who  have  composed  this  church,  in  the  various  departments  of 
church  work  and  organization  to  which  I  have  alluded.  The 
weaknesses  of  poor  human  nature  have  existed  among  us,  just  as 
everywhere;  and  some  of  us  are  about  as  good  specimens  of 
crooked  humanity  as  exist ! 

Why,  then,  this  blessed  experience  of  unbroken  harmony? 

I  will  tell  you.  Under  God,  it  is  due  to  him  to  whom  the  Prince 
of  Peace  from  the  first  committed  the  care  of  this  flock.  His  lovely,- 
unselfish,  self-sacrificing,  tender,  Christly  spirit,  with  its  indescrib- 
able, yet  subtile  and  controlling  influence,  has  pervaded  all  this 
people.  Unconsciously  to  ourselves,  his  has  been  the  almost  unseen 
and  unnoticed  hand  which,  with  its  magic  and  unfelt  power,  has 
guided  all  these  elements  of  our  natures,  so  that  the  entire  Psalm 
of  Life  which  this  Congregation  has  been  singing  down  these  years, 
has  been  a  harmony,  and  not  a  crashing  discord. 

I  am  not  here  as  a  eulogist.  But  still,  I  cannot  forbear  to  say — 
that  in  all  the  qualities  that  constitute  a  faithful  Shepherd  and 
Bishop  of  the  Flock  of  Christ,  our  Pastor,  The  Rev.  William  Pratt 


104  MONDAY   EVENIXa   EXERCISES. 

Breed,  if  not  peerless,  is  tlie  peer  of  any  and  all ;  and  lie  has  done 
his  whole  duty  to  the  charge  committed  to  his  care. 

The  gospel  he  has  proclaimed,  has  been  no  newfangled  inven- 
tion of  his  own,  or  of  any  other  human  brain.  It  has  been  "the 
old,  old  story  of  Jesus  and  his  love." 

Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  Wednesday  after  AVednesday,  Friday 
after  Friday,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  has  he  come  to  us  in  the 
fulness  of  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace!  And  while  he 
has  held  fast  to  the  old  landmarks,  and  stood  firm  upon  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  truth  as  the  Presbyterian  Church  under- 
stands them,  yet  has  he  ever  kept  fully  abreast  with  all  the  recent 
investigations  of  science  and  all  its  discoveries.  He  has  been  and 
is  familiar  with  every  art  of  modern  infidelity,  and  has  championed 
the  truth  against  all  the  assaults  of  recent  atheism,  deism,  evolu- 
tion, and  other  kindred  errors.  History  has  yielded  to  him  its 
treasures.  Art  has  been  his  spoil.  Literature  has  paid  him  tribute, 
and,  to-day,  his  panoply  for  service  in  the  Christian  warfare  is  as 
conijilete  as  that  of  any  of  whom  m'c  have  knowledge. 

How  seldom,  in  these  modern  days,  does  a  Pastorate  reach  the 
limits  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  !  Yet  here  we  see  one,  whose 
happy  existence  we  this  night  hail  with  unmingled  joy. 

May  it  long  continue!  And  a^the  years  of  its  life  go  on  and 
down  to  the  horizon,  may  the  setting  be  more  quiet,  peaceful,  loving, 
and  glorious  than  even  its  rising  has  been  ! 

It  were  strange,  if  with  such  a  church  history  and  experience, 
and  with  such  a  Pastor,  and  with  such  a  Pastorate,  the  people  of 
this  congregation  should  not  be  filled  with  thanksgiving  and  grati- 
tude. To  God  first,  and  always,  and  ever,  world  without  end ! 
Amen  and  Amen  ! 

And  it  had  been  passing  strange,  had  they  failed  to  recognize  the 
debt  of  gratitude  which  they  owe  to  the  Dear  Pastor  of  this  flock. 
Nor  have  they. 

They  love  the  whole  Presbyterian  family  throughout  the  world, 
and  they  have  but  recently  shown  this  love  by  their  works,  in 
the  glad  welcome  they  gave  to  the  representatives  of  that  Church 
as  they  came  here  from  every  clime  and  nation.  They  love  our 
own  Presbyterian  Church,  as  it  stretches  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  and  from  the  frozen  North  to  the  Great  Gulf,  as  they 


MONDAY    EVENING   EXERCISES.  105 

have,  year  by  year,  been  showing  by  their  devotion  to  all  its  varied 
interests. 

They  love  "  the  Church  that  is  in  Philadelphia,"  as  their  uni- 
form kind  intercourse  and  relations  with  all  its  various  member- 
ship fully  attest. 

But,  above  all  these,  they  love  this,  their  own  dear  home,  and 
you,  sir,  their  own  Dear  Pastor. 

You  have  been  with  us  in  all  the  various  vicissitudes  of  our 
lives  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Many  of  us, — oh,  how  many! — 
you  have  been  the  instrument  in  God's  hand  in  bringing  to  the 
Cross  of  Christ,  and  to  a  public  confession  of  faith  in  Him.  In  a 
number  of  instances  it  has  been  your  joy  and  crown  to  see  seated 
at  His  table  every  member  of  the  household.  You  have  here,  and 
in  our  homes,  joined  us  and  our  children  in  the  holy  bonds  of 
matrimony.  Many  of  these  have  been  by  you  baptized  into  the 
name  of  Christ.  And  some  of  these  dear  lambs  of  our  flocks, 
you  have  gone  with  us  to  "  God's  acre,"  to  lay  them  away  until 
the  Resurrection  Day,  sleeping  sweetly  with  Jesus  in  the  conse- 
crated grave.  The  fathers  and  mothers  of  many  of  us, — ah,  how 
many  ! — have  you,  also  with  us,  buried  out  of  our  sight,  until  we 
awake  with  them  in  the  likeness  of  Christ,  satisfied.  In  all  of  our 
homes,  in  joy  and  sorrow,  in  our  social  gatherings  and  in  our  more 
public  assemblings,  you  have  ever  been  to  us,  to  all  of  us,  our  com- 
panion, our  guide,  our  counsellor,  our  sympathizing  friend,  our 
Christain  brother  and  father,  the  anointed  of  God  to  do  us  ser- 
vice. And  how  willingly,  cheerfully,  patiently,  unselfishly,  none 
but  we  and  God  can  ever  know.  May  He  reward  you  abundantly 
for  all  your  work  and  labor  of  love. 

For  all  these  years  thus  devoted  to  your  Master's  service  and  ours, 
this  people  desire  to  make  you  some  slight  testimonial.  We  cannot 
give  you  our  services  and  our  devotion.  These  you  already  have. 
We  cannot  give  you  our  hearts.     These  long  have  been  yours. 

It  was  suggested  that  you  might  desire,  at  some  no  distant  day, 
to  visit  the  land  where  our  Saviour  lived  and  died,  and  that  we 
might  help  you  to  go  and  there  reillumine  your  faith  and  zeal  on 
that  sacred  ground.  And  some  of  our  thoughts  took  us  to  that 
wonderful  scene  in  Cresarea,  when  the  great  Apostle  stood  in  the 
presence  of  the  King  and  his  splendid  court,  in  that  grand  recep- 
tion-hall, and  expressed  the  wish,  that  the  King  and  all  present 


106  MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES. 

might  be,  altogether  such  as  he  was,  "save  these  bonds ;^'  and  we 
lieard,  that  you  had  a  bond  wliich  shackled  you  as  uncomfortably 
as  did  his,  and  we  thought  that  we  might  help  to  unloose  from 
your  hand  this  bond.  And  as  our  House  of  Worship  was  clear  of 
all  mortgages  and  the  like  heavy  burdens,  it  was  suggested,  that  a 
miserable  blanket  mortgage  upon  your  house  and  hearth  was  giving 
no  warmth  to  you  and  yours,  and  we  might  take  oif  this  unorna- 
mental  and  useless  addition  to  your  dwelling-place. 

These  suggestions  needed  only  to  be  made  to  be  acted  upon ; 
and,  without  personal  solicitation  in  any  instance,  the  money  came 
flowing  in  from  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low,  male 
and  female,  the  children  and  those  in  later  life,  until  we  were  almost 
compelled  to  cry,  "  Hold,  enough."  Permit  me  to  hand  you  this 
miserable  legal  document,  called  a  mortgage,  but  made  eminently 
a  beautiful  piece  of  paper  now,  for  it  is  indorsed  with  the  name  of 
a  Presbyterian  elder,  who  signs  himself  Louis  Wagner,  Recorder 
of  Deeds  for  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  and  he  says :  "  Satisfied  of 
Eecord,"  April  4th,  1881. 

And  this  other  hard,  cruel,  exacting  bond.  It,  too,  is  made 
radiant  now  with  a  writing,  which  reads  as  follows : 

"  Philadelphia,  April  4th,  A.D.  1881. 
"Eeceived  from  the  Elders,  Deacons,  Trustees,  and  People  of  the  West  Spruce 
Street  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  the  sum  of  $5000,  being 
the  balance  of  the  within  debt  of  $G000,  in  liquidation  and  cancellation  of  the 
within  bond  or  obligation  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  William  P.  Breed,  the  Pastor  of  said 
church,  and  of  all  interest  thereon  to  date,  being  §65.83." 

And  this  is  signed  by  W.  L.  Dubois,  Treasurer  of  "  the  Philadel- 
phia Trust,  Safe  Deposit  and  Insurance  Company,"  duly  attested 
by  its  seal. 

I  also  hand  you  two  bonds  for  $2000  of  the  Philadeli^hia  and 
Erie  Railroad  Company,  costing  $2120.  These  are  to  you  much 
better  than  your  bond,  and  will,  I  am  sure,  be  of  more  use  and 
gratification  to  you. 

I  also  hand  you  the  check  of  Mr.  Charles  O.  Abbey,  the  Treas- 
urer of  this  fund  for  $795.82,  and,  like  himself,  it  is  as  good  as 
gold. 

These  aggregate  the  sum  of  $8000. 

It  is  my  high  honor  and  my  great  pleasure,  on  behalf  of  the 
Elders,  Deacons,  Trustees,  and  People  of  the  West  Spruce  Street 


MONDAY    EVENING    EXERCISES.  107 

Presbyterian  Church  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  here  and  now 
assembled,  to  present  these  to  you,  our  Dear  Pastor,  as  a  slight  and 
inadequate  expression  of  the  love  we  all  bear  to  you.  Sonic  friends 
have  joined  us  in  this  testimonial,  for  we  could  not  refuse  them 
this  privilege  which,  unsought,  they  begged  from  us. 

And  now,  may  our  future  relations,  Dear  Pastor,  be  but  the 
full  development  of  the  same  Christian  and  brotherly  love,  which, 
without  a  shadow  across  its  brightness,  has  made  these  jiast  twenty- 
five  years  radiant  with  joy  and  overflowing  with  happiness! 

Response  by  the  Pastor,  Rev.  William  P.  Breed,  D.D, 

(The  pastor's  response,  the  initial  sentences  of  which  were  uttered 
in  tones  tremulous  with  emotion,  was  as  follows) : 

Words  are  well  enough  in  their  way,  but  sometimes  their  way 
is  not  that  of  very  ready  utterance.  Words  are  said  to  be  vehicles 
of  thought,  but  if  I  should  attempt  to  load  any  of  those  vehicles 
with  the  thoughts  and  emotions  that  have  stirred  my  heart  during 
the  last  two  or  three  days  and  nights,  both  the  vehicle  and  myself 
would  break  down. 

Until  I  saw  it  in  the  newspapers  the  other  day  I  had  not  the 
slightest  impression  that  any  testimonial  was  to  be  presented  to 
me,  and  until  this  moment  I  had  not  heard  the  most  remote  inti- 
mation as  to  the  form  which  that  testimonial  would  assume.  I 
simply  saw  that  there  was  to  be  one,  and  that  I  was  to  respond  to 
the  presentation  speech,  and  thus  I  had  not  only  to  prepare  the  ser- 
mon after  I  reached  this  place,  but  had  to  anticipate  the  text.  I 
feel  and  have  felt  for  two  or  three  days  a  twofold  throb  of  grati- 
tude, beating,  swelling,  surging  in  my  heart — a  pulsation  of  grati- 
tude first,  of  course,  to  the  great  God  of  all,  "  from  whom  all 
blessings  flow,"  and  next  to  this  people. 

Certainly  it  has  been  not  through  accident,  but  through  the 
kindly  providence  of  God  for  wise  purposes  that  material  of  such 
quality  as  that  which  came  to  us  crystallized  around  this  church. 
It  is  often  said  that  God  sifted  the  old  nations  to  find  a  seed 
wherewith  to  plant  our  own.  I  would  not  dare  to  say  that 
God  sifted  the  other  churches  to  find  the  seed  wherewith  to 
plant  our  own  church,  for  after  the  sifting  only  the  bran  is  left, 


108  MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES. 

and  the  parallel  would  not  hold  good,  for  I  am  sure  there  is  some- 
thing besides  bran  in  the  Old  Tenth  Church  from  which  we  sprang, 
and  in  the  Old  Central  Church  that  has  given  us  some  of  our  most 
precious  treasures,  and  from  which  Mr.  Junldn  came,  and  he  is 
a  specimen  of  them.  No,  it  was  not  so  much  a  process  of  sifting 
as  of  selecting  the  materials  that  came  to  us  in  this  period  of 
twenty-five  years,  which  have  so  entirely  coalesced  and,  like  kin- 
dred dro[)s,  so  thoroughly  mingled  in  one  harmonious  whole ;  and 
I  have  never  been  able  to  account  for  it  except  as  a  special  mani- 
festation of  the  wonderful  goodness  of  God.  It  is  true  that  we 
have  at  times  been  called  upon  to  exercise  a  little  wisdom  in  the 
matter.  At  the  outset,  when  our  church  Avas  but  a  mere  hand- 
ful, I  had  a  peculiar  experience  in  that  regard.  A  lady  came 
to  my  study,  of  whom  it  is  saying  very  little  to  say  that  she 
was  eloquent.  If  there  are  tongues  hung  in  the  middle  and  that 
play  at  both  ends,  she  had  such  a  tongue.  I  do  not  know  that 
she  had  ever  read  Junius's  letters,  but  she  was  strangely  fluent 
in  denunciation,  and  in  the  use  of  epithets  of  vituperatioiu  She 
came  from  Mr.  Barnes's  church,  and  she  abused  Mr.  Barnes,  his 
elders  and  his  people,  and  indeed  she  had  not  gone  very  far  before 
I  said  to  myself:  "  Well,  my  good  lady,  we  can  get  along  without 
you,"  I  took  her  certificate,  rept)rted  it  to  the  Session,  and  they 
unanimously  refused  to  receive  it.  She  was  very  anxious  to  know 
the  reason  of  this,  and  I  told  her  if  she  would  write  to  the  Ses- 
sion it  would,  if  it  chose  so  to  do,  make  the  explanation.  She 
went  away  and  became  a  member  of  another  denomination,  and 
— we  escaped  that  mercy  !  (Appreciative  merriment.)  But  with 
that  one  exception  all  who  have  come  to  us  thus  far  have  come 
with  Avarm  hearts.  And  I  repeat,  I  have  never  been  able  fully  to 
understand  that  unity  and  kindly  feeling  which  has  ever  distin- 
guished the  intercourse  of  the  members  of  our  church  and  its  offi- 
cers,  and  especially  do  I  fail  to  fully  understand  that  revelation  of 
it  that  has  been  made  to  me  here  within  the  past  few  days.  It  is 
indeed  a  revelation.  I  knew  very  well  there  was  kindness  here 
and  kindness  there,  but  I  never  dreamed  of  all  this  wealth  of 
kindly  feeling  that  has  now  been  developed.  We  are  in  our  na- 
tures bad  enough,  it  is  true,  but  after  all  there  is  a  great  deal  in 
human  nature  that  is  to  be  commended,  and  one  of  the  evidences 
of  the  fact  is  before  our  eyes  in  the  record  of  this  night  and  of  the 


MONDAY    EYEXIXG    EXEECISES.  109 

past  few  days  when,  upon  so  slight  a  pretext  as  the  arrival  of  this 
twenty-fifth  annniversary,  the  people  have  rushed  to  do  these  mag- 
nificent things. 

As  Mr.  Junkin  has  said,  it  has  not  been  this  little  coterie  or  that 
one  that  has  done  this;  the  work  has  been  that  of  all  the  church, 
from  my  young  friend  who  occupies  the  chair  here  (alluding  to 
Gustavus  S.  Benson,  Esq.)  clear  up  to  the  oldest  member  of  the 
infant  class !  I  could  not  understand  yesterday  why  the  eves  of 
the  children,  always  bright,  were  glimmering  and  glistening 
when  mine  met  theirs  as  we  sat  here.  I  knew  that  I  Avas  to 
pronounce  my  benediction  upon  them,  but  I  did  not  know  until 
the  close  of  services  that  they  had  been  M'aiting  to  pour  their 
benediction  upon  me.  Every  little  heart  was  beating  high  with 
interest  in  the  offering  of  that  beautiful  tribute.  And  so  it  has 
ever  been.  I  feel  very  grateful  to  God,  and  I  feel  very  grateful 
to  this  people  and  to  this  community.  It  has  been  well  demon- 
strated in  the  course  of  these  proceedings  that  this  people  are  a 
people  of  large  hearts;  that  they  are  a  people  who  shut  their  eyes 
to  imperfections;  that  they  are  a  people  who  put  the  best  interpre- 
tation upon  things  that  might  be  misinterpreted;  that  they  are 
everything  that  any  pastor  on  this  planet  could  desire.  I  have 
always  felt  it  to  be  so,  and  I  am  more  than  ever  impressed  with 
the  fact  to-night.  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  it  is  by  any  means  a 
surprise  to  me  to  find  the  members  of  a  church  entertaining  kindly 
feelings  toward  the  pastor,  because  I  have  occupied  the  place  of  a 
member  of  a  congregation  myself  and  have  known  what  it  was  to 
have  a  pastor.  In  the  home  of  my  widowed  mother,  in  New  York, 
I  knew  very  well,  and  all  there  knew  very  well,  that  if  there  was 
ever  need  of  sympathy,  if  there  was  ever  need  of  counsel,  if  there 
was  ever  need  of  service,  there  was  one  man  on  Manhattan  Island 
who  coLdd  always  be  appealed  to  with  the  certainty  of  a  prompt 
and  favorable  response, — our  dearly  beloved  pastor.  Dr.  John  ^NI. 
Krebs.  It  is  not  surprising  that  such  a  feeling  should  exist  be- 
tween pastor  and  people,  because,  as  they  advance  in  years,  the 
pastor  necessarily  becomes  associated  with  the  people  in  a  great 
variety  of  relations.  I  have  seen  a  young  man  in  my  congregation 
on  the  very  edge  of  the  abyss  of  drunkenness,  of  profanity,  and  of 
everything  bad,  and  I  have  seen  him  revolutionized,  turning  his 
back  upon  sin,  becoming  wealthy,  becoming  influential,  taking  a 


110  MONDAY   EVEXIXG    EXERCISES. 

lofty  position  in  society;  and  that  young  man  knows  this  day,  and 
he  is  always  ready  to  acknowledge  it,  that  it  was  the  influence  of 
his  pastor,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  that  gave  him  everything 
he  has  had  in  life,  Tliese  things  occur  in  every  congregation.  It 
is  not  wonderful,  tlicrefore,  tliat  at  the  end  of  a  pastorate  of  twenty- 
five  years  there  should  be  found  those  who  look  toward  a  pastor, 
who  has  been  the  instrument  of  serving  them  thus,  as  toward  a 
dear  friend.  Especially  is  this  true  in  conversions,  where  souls 
have  been  brought  from  darkness  to  light  through  the  minis- 
trations of  the  pastor.  I  am  reminded  here  of  a  minister  of 
our  church  in  other  days,  a  strong  man  in  it,  perhaps  in  many 
respects  the  strongest,  who  was  not  ovcrtender  of  the  infirmities 
of  his  brethren.  If  he  had  an  object  to  secure,  he  did  not 
stop  to  see  whom  he  trod  upon  on  his  way  to  the  goal.  But 
there  Mas  one  man  who,  whether  opposed  to  him  in  debate 
or  in  any  way  opposed  to  him,  was  always  treated  by  him 
tenderly  and  kindly.  This  was  one  day  the  subject  of  com- 
ment and  he  was  asked:  "Why  do  you  make  this  exception? 
Why  is  it  we  never  hear  from  your  lips  a  word  that  might 
disturb  the  feelings  of  that  man?"  "Ah,"  he  answered,  "when 
I  was  a  poor  lost  sinner  on  the  way  to  hell  that  was  the  man 
who  took  me  by  the  hand  and  brought  me  to  Jesus.  God 
paralyze  my  tongue  if  I  ever  speak  unkindly  of  him  whatever  he 
does."  I  can  understand  that  feeling.  I  remember  how  I  used 
to  look  upon  my  pastor,  Dr.  Ivrebs,  and  particularly  the  counsel 
he  gave  me  on  that  day  when  I  stood  up  in  the  old  Rutger  Street 
Church  and  took  the  vows  of  fidelity  to  God  upon  my  soul.  I  do 
not  wonder  that  associations  such  as  those,  connected  as  they  are 
with  spiritual  blessing  and  with  secular  blessing,  with  scenes  of 
sickness  and  of  death,  should  arise  in  the  minds  of  a  congregation. 
The  one  hundred  and  four  resting-places  that  lift  their  little 
mounds  in  yonder  cemeteries  contain  the  remains  of  those  whom 
I  have  follow^ed  thither  after  ministering  to  them  in  their  suffer- 
ings, the  little  child  and  the  aged  parent,  and  I  know  well  that  it 
is  possible  I  should  be  associated  in  the  memories  of  many  of  the 
members  of  the  families  there  represented  with  the  most  ten^ler 
and  touching  scenes  of  their  family  history.  It  could  not  be  other- 
wise,    i  can  understand  all  this,  but  I  cannot  understand  the 


MONDAY    EVENING    EXERCISES.  Ill 

breadth,  the  depth,  the  length,  and  the  richness  of  all  the  kindness 
I  have  experienced  in  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  Junkin  has  strangely  said  that  the  harmony  of  this  people 
and  their  love  of  one  another  has  been  the  work  of  the  pastor.  I 
reply  to  that,  ''Like  people,  like  pastor,"  and  that  the  influence 
has  come  from  the  other  direction.  I  must  not  detain  you  lono-er, 
and  therefore  will  only  add  what  is  thoroughly  well  known  to 
you,  viz.,  that  a  band  of  Ruling  Elders  superior  to  those  with 
whom  God  has  blessed  this  church  (call  over  their  names  and 
see  who  they  are),  or  of  Deacons  and  Trustees  more  intelligent, 
more  judicious,  more  kind  and  loving  than  those  of  this  church, 
never  were  and  never  will  be  until  the  millennium. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  express  my  gratitude  for  this  gift.  I 
could  not  do  it.  It  is  to  me  an  utter  surprise,  and  all  that  I 
say  or  can  say  is,  that  I  accept  it  and  thank  you  with  all  my 
heart.  May  the  Lord  bless  you,  each  and  all  of  you.  May  the 
Lord  make  his  face  shine  upon  you  and  be  gracious  unto  you. 
INIay  the  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  you  and  give  you 
peace,  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Amen. 

The  "Gloria"  (Mozart)  having  been  sung  by  the  choir, 
The  chairman  (Mr.  Benson)  said  :   We  have  with  us,  on  the 
platform,  the  pastor  of  the  Tenth  Presbyterian  Church,  the  foun- 
tain and  source  from  which  sprang  this  prosperous  church.     We 
would  be  glad  to  hear  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  De  Witt. 
Dr.  De  Witt  responded. 

Address  by  the   Pastor    of  the   Parent   Church,  Rev. 
John  De  Witt,  D.'D.,  Tenth  Presbyterian  Church. 

Mr.  Chairman  :  I  have  had  occasion,  during  the  last  two  or 
three  days,  to  explore  the  writings  and  to  study  the  eloquence  of 
John  Chrysostom,  the  golden-mouthed.  But  this  evening  I 
have  had  the  satisfaction  of  listening  to  and  enjoying  the  elo- 
quence of  an  orator  not  only  golden-mouthed  but  golden-handed. 
How  were  it  possible  for  me  to  make  a  speech  after  such  a 
peroration  !     Of  course,  the  services  of  this  evening  have  reached 


112  MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES. 

the  zenitli,  and  must  now  pass  forward  and  downward  toward  the 
nadir. 

I  have  profound  regret  that  my  poor  voice  must  take  the  place 
of  a  voice  now  silent  in  death,  that  Dr.  Breed  aptly  described, 
some  time  ago,  as  "the  sound  of  silver  chimes."  But  such  as  it 
is,  I  have  very  great  pleasure  in  raising  it,  first  of  all  to  thank  you 
for  the  opportunity  you  have  given  to  the  Tenth  Church  to  be  heard 
upon  this  most  joyous  occasion.  We  congratulate  you  upon  the  life 
that  you  have  lived.  The  Tenth  Church,  I  may  be  permitted  to  say, 
with  due  modesty,  as  its  pastor,  has  done  many  noble  things,  but  it 
is  our  opinion  that  never  was  anything  done  more  worthy  of  praise 
by  the  Tenth  Church  than  when,  at  the  suggestion  of  its  distin- 
guished pastor  (Dr.  Boardman),  it  sent  these  thirty-four  godly  men 
and  women  out  to  establish  this  Church.  We  rejoice  in  your 
success,  in  your  devotion  to  the  truth  of  God,  in  your  large  benev- 
olence ;  and  we  pray  God  that  as  you  have  begun  so  He  will  make 
you  to  abound  more  and  more. 

Here,  perhaps  I  ought  to  close;  but  I  cannot  take  my  seat 
without  congratulating  you  upon  your  noble,  revered,  honored, 
and  beloved  pastor,  though  that  is  superfluous  after  what  has 
taken  place  to-night.  Hather  let  me  congratulate  you  that  you 
have  the  intelligence,  the  goodi>ess,  and  the  generosity  to  appre- 
ciate him,  and  in  so  noble  a  way  to  manifest  your  appreciation. 
I  pray  that  the  spirit  of  this  good  hour  may  be  perpetual. 
I  trust  that  nothing,  certainly  not  old  age, — though  I  pray 
that  God  will  grant  him  twenty-five  years  longer,— that  noth- 
ing, certainly  not  old  age,  will  be  suffered  to  sever  the  relation 
that  now  exists  between  him  and  his  people.  T  trust  that  he 
shall  stand  here  when  silver  hairs  shall  crown  his  head;  and 
that  he  shall  continue  to  be  what  he  is  to  this  people,  until  the 
call  shall  come  that  shall  summon  him  from  his  abundant  labors 
to  his  heavenly  reward. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Presbyterian  Board  of  Ptiblication,  as 
you  know,  is  the  publication  house  of  the  whole  Presbyterian 
Church  of  the  United  States,  and  our  pastor.  Rev.  Dr.  Breed,  is  the 
President  of  that  Board.  An  invitation  to  attend  this,  our  festival, 
was  conveyed  by  me  to  the  Board  of  Publication  ;  it  was  promptly 


MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES.  113 

accepted  and,  witli  a  burst  of  enthusiasm,  the  Board  unanimously 
appointed  Dr.  J.  Addison  Henry,  of  the  Princeton  Church,  West 
Philadelphia,  to  be  their  spokesman  in  conveying  their  congratula- 
tions on  this  occasion.     Dr.  Henry  will  now  address  you. 

Address  froini  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication, 
BY  Rev.  J.  Addison  Henry,  D.D. 

I  do  not  know,  my  friends,  why  the  Board  of  Publication 
should  have  appointed  me  with  such  a  "burst  of  enthusiasm"  to 
represent  them  upon  this  occasion.  Perhaps,  however,  I  may 
think  of  the  reason.  That  is  a  ponderous  institution — we  publish 
no  light  literature — and  therefore  it  is  perfectly  in  keeping  that 
the  heaviest  member  of  the  board  should  have  been  appointed 
to  represent  the  board  here  this  evening.  (Merriment.)  I  was 
perfectly  willing,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  be  present,  although  I  should 
have  been  glad  if  some  other  brother  had  taken  this  place.  It  was 
whispered  to  me,  as  I  was  leaving  the  board  that  afternoon,  after 
my  appointment,  that,  before  that,  the  session  of  this  church  or  the 
committee  of  arrangements  had  thought  of  me  to  represent  the 
Central  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  I  think  I  must  mention  the 
Central  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  here,  and  therefore  I  refer  to 
that  fact.  AVe  are  across  the  line — north  of  Market  Street.  It  is 
not  true  of  us,  as  it  was  of  the  Jews  and  Samaritans  of  old,  that 
we  have  "  no  dealings,"  and  yet  we  are  not  altogether  one.  We 
have  amicably  separated,  and  we  feel  as  though  we  are  sisters. 

"We  seem  not  one, 
And  yet  not  two  ; 
But  look  alike, 
As  sisters  do." 

(Renewed  merriment.) 

I  do  not  know  how  sisters  act  when  they  are  together  in  the  family, 
but  I  take  it  for  granted  they  are  always  peaceable  and  harmonious. 
I  have  had  but  one  sister,  and  therefore  have  not  had  the  oppor- 
tunity to  observe.  But  we  are  very  harmonious !  There  is  one 
thing,  however,  I  wish  to  say  about  these  presbyteries.  If  an  over- 
ture comes  down  from  the  General  Assembly  to  be  ratified  by  the 
presbyteries,  and  if  it  passes  unanimously  in  the  Presbytery  of 


114  MONDAY    EYEXIXG    EXERCISES. 

Philadclpliia,  you  may  be  sure  it  is  going  to  be  lost  in  the  Central 
Presbytery — that  you  may  be  sure  of !  (General  relaxation.)  Now 
to-morrow  we  are  going  to  act  in  the  Central  Presbytery  upon  the 
Overtures  on  the  reorganization  of  Synods ;  I  do  not  know  what 
action  will  be  taken,  but  I  am  willing  to  surmise  that  that  over- 
ture will  be  lost  in  that  presbytery.  I  do  not  suppose  it  is  because 
of  any  spirit  of  contrariness,  but  perhaps  because  of  this  feeling, 
that  it  is  necessary  to  keep  up  the  balance  of  power  somehow,  and 
that,  as  the  world  is  taking  notice  of  us,  if  they  notice  tlie  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia  they  must  notice  the  Central  Presbytery. 

To-night  I  do  not  know  whether  I  am  in  a  solemn  mood  or  not, 
I  rather  think  I  am  not  in  a  solemn  mood,  and  therefore  you  will 
excuse  me  for  these  remarks.  I  heard  of  a  lady  who  had  a  gentle- 
man friend,  but  one  who,  though  a  little  tardy,  finally  made  his 
proposal  ;  and  upon  being  asked  how  she  felt  about  it,  she  replied 
that  "she  felt  as  if  every  nail  in  the  house  was  a  jewsharp,"  she 
was  so  happy.  I  can  understand  that  in  some  degree.  Now,  why 
should  not  we  all  be  happy  ?  I  suppose  you,  sir  (addressing  Dr.- 
Breed),  recollect  the  time  when  this  bride  came  to  you  on  the  Ohio 
and  proposed  to  you  and  you  accepted  the  proposal,  and  I  think  that 
after  these  twenty-five  years  of  labor  you  ought  to  be  happy.  You 
are  not  situated  as  I  was  yesterday  when,  upon  commencing  my 
sermon,  I  observed  a  bat  circling  around  the  church.  I  noticed  him 
for  awhile,  but  my  sermon  being  written,  I  had  to  keep  my  eyes 
upon  that,  and  only  caught  sight  of  the  bat  occasionally  but,  un- 
fortunately, in  his  career,  he  constantly  made  his  circles  around  my 
head.  Now,  sir,  you  have  not  a  bat  after  you  to-night  but  a  whole 
battery,  and  they  are  firing  bouquets  at  you.  Every  gun  of  the 
battery  fires  a  bouquet.  I  am  sure  you  are  ha]>py  to-night  after 
all  these  years  of  labor.  And  for  the  most  of  the  time  I  have  been 
at  your  side  laboring  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  You  were  here 
a  little  before  me,  but  we  represent  forty-six  years  of  labor,  and  I 
think  we  have  stood  it  pretty  well.  We  have  heard  of  those  men 
who  go  from  church  to  church  because  they  think  their  health  is 
improv^ed  by  it,  but  here  we  are;  you  are  a  little  thinner  than  I 
am,  but  I  have  always  noticed  that  thin  men  are  better  for  a  long 
race,  and  I  am  a  little  afraid  of  you  after  all.  (Increased  merri- 
ment.) Old  General  Finley  said  on  one  occasion,  "Give  me  an 
old  minister  and  a  young  doctor,  and  I  am  well  fixed."     I  suppose 


MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES.     .  115 

he  meant  by  that  not  exactly  that  he  wanted  an  old  man  for  a 
minister,  but  that  he  wanted  one  who  understood  the  spiritual 
wants  of  his  family  and  who  was  intensely  interested  in  him ;  while 
he  preferred  a  young  doctor  because  such  a  one  would  be  very  care- 
ful.   It  was  proper  for  him  to  make  use  of  an  expression  such  as  that' 

But  there  is  one  thing  to  be  borne  in  mind,  my  friends.  While 
you  talk  of  your  minister  and  make  him  out  such  a  perfect  exem- 
plar, you  must  know  it  is  possible  for  him  to  teach  doctrine  that  is 
not  consonant  with  the  teachings  of  our  Confession.  Before  I  came 
here,  just  four  hours  ago,  a  lady  in  West  Philadelphia  told  me  that 
on  one  occasion  she  had  a  little  grandson  in  an  infant  class,  and 
that  Dr.  Breed,  being  called  on  to  deliver  an  address  to  that  infant 
class,  said  among  other  things :  "  If  you  have  an  old  habit  that 
is  of  no  use,  discard  it.  If  I  had  a  watch  that  would  not  go,  I 
would  take  it  to  a  jeweller,  and  if  then  it  would  not  go  I  would 
almost  break  it  up."  She  added  that  that  little  boy  had  a  short 
time  before  borrowed  a  watch  from  his  father,  that  it  would  not 
go,  and  that  a  little  time  afterwards  his  mother  heard  a  noise  up- 
stairs and  found  it  was  the  child  smashing  up  the  watch.  "  What 
do  you  think  of  that?"  she  asked. 

My  friends,  this  is  a  grand  occasion,  and  I  am  gratified  to  hear 
that  the  people  of  this  church  are  always  ready  to  meet  their  en- 
gagements. They  are  not  like  the  Baptist  church  in  Baltimore 
that  I  heard  of,  that  was  in  very  deep  water,  very  much  embarrassed 
with  debt.  The  minister  was  asked  why  the  church  was  shut  up, 
and  he  said  "  it  was  because  they  could  not  keep  their  heads  above 
water."  But  that  is  not  the  case  with  you.  I  want  now  to  show  to 
you,  as  briefly  as  I  can,  what  has  been  accomplished  by  this  church 
in  the  last  nine  years.  In  looking  over  the  minutes  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  my  possession  for  the  years  from  1871  to  1881, 
I  found  that  I  had  mislaid  the  year  1874,  and  therefore  I  cannot 
report  as  to  that  year,  but  in  the  remaining  nine  years  of  the  decade 
I  find  that  191  persons  joined  this  church  on  profession  and  146  on 
certificate,  making  a  total  of  337.  That  is  equal  to  37  plus  per  year. 
It  may  be  true  this  church  has  not  as  large  a  communion  roll  as 
some  of  the  other  churches,  but  do  not  tell  me  how  large  a  church 
is,  but  tell  me  how  they  have  given  of  their  means.  This  church, 
in  that  time,  has  given  to  home  missions  $26,096 — an  average  of 
$2899.50  per  year — so  that  they  have  been  keeping,  for  the  last 


116  .     MONDAY    EVENING    EXERCISES. 

three  years,  three  missionaries  all  the  time  upon  our  frontier.  They 
have  given  to  foreign  missions  $15,031 — an  average  of  $1670  per 
year,  sufficient  to  sustain  two  foreign  missionaries.  They  have  given 
to  education  $11,489,  or  $1 270  plus  per  year,  enough  to  assist  eight 
young  men  all  the  time  for  these  years,  in  their  studies  for  the  min- 
istry. They  have  given  to  publication  $8458,  or  $939  plus  yearly. 
The  next  highest  church  on  the  list — I  will  not  mention  the  name  of 
the  church — gave  to  publication  in  those  nine  years  $2349.  This 
church,  as  appears  here,  gave  to  publication  $8458!  They  ha.ve 
been  able  all  the  time  to  keep  two  colporteurs  in  the  field;  so  that 
while  they  have  been  working  here,  while  they  have  been  building 
up  this  church,  freeing  it  of  debt,  sustaining  their  minister  and  giving 
their  money  to  Presbyterian  councils,  they  have  all  the  time  been 
supporting  fifteen  workers  out  in  the  field.  Now,  my  friends,  if  you 
can  point  me  to  any  other  church  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  that 
has  a  history  of  twenty-five  years,  and  has  had  but  a  single  pastor, 
and  that  has  done  anything  like  as  well  as  that,  then,  as  my  friend, 
Dr.  Nevin,  would  say:  "I  will  submit  the  question." 

(Turning  to  Dr.  Breed):  My  dear  brother:  I  congratulate  you 
to-night.  These  anniversaries  are  pleasant.  I  passed  through  one 
of  them  last  summer,  when  my  dear  people  gave  me  the  funds 
wherewith  to  go  to  Europe.  I  wish  these  anniversaries  could  be 
repeated  every  year!  (Good  humor.) 

The  Hallelujah  Chorus  (Handel)  was  grandly  rendered  by  the 
choir. 

The  Chairman  then  said :  The  gentleman  who  will  now  address 
you  was  a  college-mate  of  our  pastor.  After  sitting  side  by  side 
for  four  years,  they  have  since  met  yearly  at  a  class-meeting.  I 
present  to  you  William  Allen  Butler,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  the 
author  of  many  poems,  at  least  one  of  which,  "  Nothing  to  Wear," 
many  of  you  have  read,  and  who  therefore,  to  many  of  you,  will 
doubtless  seem  like  an  old  friend. 

Mr.  Butler  responded  as  follows : 

Address  by  William  Allen  Butler,  LL.D., 

OF  New  York  City. 

i)/r.  Chairman,  Ladies,  and  Gentlemen:  It  is  seldom  that  an 

entire  stranger  is  made  at  home  in  a  family  gathering,  and  it  is 

perhaps  still  more  seldom  that  a  New  York  lawyer  has  the  oppor- 


MONDAY   EVENlXCt   EXERCISES.  117 

tiinity  of  vouching  for  a  Philadelphia  clergyman.  The  Philadel- 
phia lawyer  we  know  all  about, — we  Ijave  heard  of  him  for  a  period 
during  which  the  memory  of  man  runs  not  to  the  contrary, — but 
I  have  learned  a  great  deal  to-night  about  the  Philadelphia  clergy- 
man that  I  never  knew  before.  You  have  heard  the  larp;e  salaries 
which  are  said  to  be  paid  to  clergymen  in  New  York  (and  they 
are  none  too  large)  accounted  for  on  the  theory  that  it  is  harder 
work  to  convert  people  in  New  York  than  anywhere  else.  I 
should  judge  that  it  was  the  easiest  work  in  Philadelphia  from 
what  I  have  heard  to-night.  But  what  has  puzzled  me  as  I  sat 
here  has  been  to  know  why  my  excellent  friend,  Dr.  Breed,  who 
celebrates  with  you  so  happily  to-night  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary 
of  your  union,  should  not  have  been  content  to  let  well  enough 
alone,  to  prove  up  his  record  of  twenty-five  years,  without  wanting 
to  go  back  into  a  period  which  is  covered  by  all  the  statutes  of 
limitations  and  call  a  witness  to  testify  to  what  he  was  forty  years 
ago.  I  have  always  had  the  greatest  faith  in  his  absolute  Presby- 
terianism.  That  he  should  engage  in  a  work  of  supererogation 
is  something  I  did  not  expect,  and  I  have  asked  myself  why  it  is 
that  I  should  be  brought  from  a  distant  city,  after  so  many  attesta- 
tions here  in  respect  to  his  character,  his  services,  the  w^ork  he  has 
done,  and  the  estimation  in  which  he  has  been  held,  to  give  my 
testimony  as  to  what  happened,  as  I  say,  in  that  remote  past. 

But  I  am  called  upon  and  presented  by  your  excellent  chairman 
as  a  sort  of  prehistoric  character.  (Merriment.)  I  am  brought 
here  from  a  remote  antiquity,  and  I  am  called  upon  to  give  what 
account  I  can  in  reference  to  the  early  history  of  my  friend  and 
your  pastor.  If  I  could  get  the  young  people  together  somewhere, 
I  have  no  doubt  I  could  entertain  them  for  some  time  with  a  sketch 
of  his  early  life  and  surroundings;  but  that  is  impracticable.  I 
accept  the  situation  just  as  it  is, — the  only  thing,  I  believe,  that 
can  be  done  with  a  situation  when  it  is  offered, — and  I  will  say, 
in  regard  to  him,  that  I  sat  by  his  side,  owing  to  the  coincidence 
in  the  initial  letters  of  our  names,  upon  the  hard  benches  of  the 
New  York  University,  his  alma  mater  and  mine — an  institution 
which,  though  not  as  conspicuous,  perhaps,  as  some  other  educa- 
tional institutions  in  the  country,  yet  gave  to  him  an  education 
which  seems  to  have  sufficed  pretty  well  in  Philadelphia,  and  gave 
to  me  and  to  some  others  an  education  which  has  enabled  us  to  get 


118  MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES. 

along  in  tlie  city  of  New  York;  an  institution  in  whose  building, 
I  may  say  in  passing,  the  first  experiments  ever  made  in  this 
country  in  the  science  and  art  of  the  electric  telegraph  took 
place;  in  whose  building  the  first  human  countenance  that  the 
sun  ever  printed  here  upon  any  surface  was  taken;  an  institu- 
tion which  has  numbered  among  its  professors,  and  those  who 
have  presided  over  it,  some  of  the  most  distinguished  scliolars 
of  the  country;  and  which  has  sent  forth  not  a  few  faithful  labor- 
ers in  different  walks  of  professional  life.  During  that  four  years 
of  course  I  had  an  opportunity  of  setting  your  pastor  a  good  ex- 
ample. (General  good-humor,  which  was  renewed  with  many  of 
the  sentences  which  follow.)  How  he  profited  I  leave  for  you  to 
say.  I  will  say  that  if  he  was  engaged  in  any  violations  of  duty 
or  breaches  of  decorum,  he  had  the  rare  faculty  of  not  being  found 
out.  And  I  M'ill  say  further  that  he  began,  at  a  very  early  period 
of  his  career,  the  practice  of  that  art  at  which  he  seems  to  have 
become  a  perfect  adept  here,  of  winning  golden  opinions  from  all 
sorts  of  men.  He  has  often  translated  some  hard  passages  for  me. 
He  says  there  is  something  here  to-night  that  he  cannot  under- 
stand— that  he  cannot  understand  the  love  and  affection  of  his 
people  for  him.  I  think  I  can  translate  that.  "The  child  is 
father  of  the  man."  The  pure  virgin  gold,  beaten  and  hammered 
and  melted  in  the  crucible,  comes  out  always  the  same  i)erfect 
metal  that  it  was  at  the  beginning;  and  I  am  only  too  happy  to 
assure  him, — knowing  as  I  do  the  absolute  sincerity  with  which 
I  speak,  and  testing  by  that  the  sincerity  of  those  who,  though 
strangers  to  me,  are  speaking.,  a  common  language  with  me  to- 
night,— I  am  happy  to  assure  him,  and  I  say  it  from  the  depths 
of  my  heart,  that  I  find  in  all  the  words  of  praise  and  of  satisfac- 
tion that  have  been  uttered  here  to-night  only  the  echoes  of  those 
memories  which  belong  to  our  early  friendship  of  twoscore  years 
ago. 

I  am  most  happy  to  be  able  to  be  with  you  to-night  and  with 
my  old  friend,  your  pastor,  and  with  his  friends  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  and  I  have  been  deeply  impressed  with  what  I  have  heard. 
It  has  seemed  to  me  that  to  any  one  coming  in,  as  I  have  done, 
from  outside  your  happy  circle^,  taking  a  place  here  upon  the  plat- 
form, looking  into  his  face  and  into  yours,  and  listening  to  all  these 
evidences  of  your  happiness,  of  your  satisfaction,  of  your  mutual 


MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES.  119 

congratulations,  there  could  hardly  be  a  stronger  or  a  more  satis- 
factory   proof  of  the   reality,   and    the    power    of  that    religion 
which    binds    us   together   in    these  ties   of  church   relationship. 
"What  is  the  secret  of  this  harmony,  of  this  happiness,  of  this  or- 
ganized force  for  Christian  work?     It  is  not  alone  adherence  to 
the  same  doctrines  however  firmly  held.     It  is  not  alone  adhesion 
to  the  same  form  of  church  government,  or  to  the  same  creed,  or 
to  the  same  methods  of  worship.     Xo,  I  think  we  find  the  secret 
of  it  in  that  personal  trust  and  devotion  to  the  ond" divine-human 
friend  and  Saviour,  whose  sacrificial  death  and  whose  living  love 
binds  his  followers  together  in  these  sacred  relations,  of  which  the 
highest  consummation  shall  be  the  fulfilment  of  his  own  ]n'omise, 
that  there  shall  be  "one  fold  and  one  shepherd."     And,  in   its 
measure,   this  Christian   church,   through   these    last  twenty-five 
years,  has  realized  upon  earth  "one  fold,  one  shepherd."     What  a 
wealth  of  association  and  what  a  divine  energy  are  wrapt  up  in  that 
thought!     There  are  joys  here  with  which  a  stranger  cannot  inter- 
meddle, and  there  is  also  a  power  which,  it  seems  to  me,  we  should 
take  note  of,  not  only  as  it  expresses  itself  in  your  labors  of  love 
and  in  your  mutual  congratulations  to-night,  but  as  it  affects  the 
world  without  and  society  at  large.     It  is  the  Christian  church,  as 
we  see  it  represented  here,  an  organized  living  force,  united  by  faith 
to  its  omnipotent  head,  which  is  the  real  conservator  of  society 
and  of  everything  which  makes  life  valuable;  and  I  think  the 
world  knows  and  recognizes  this  fact  perhaps  far  more  than  we 
are  willing  to  suppose.     ISTo  matter  how  they  may  be  led  astray 
from  time  to  time  by  those  influences  that  are  adverse  and  disin- 
tegrating, I  think  that  men  in  general  feel  that  it  is  well  the  Chris- 
tian church,  as  an  organized  body,  should  mark  the  boundaries  of 
sacred   times  and  seasons.     I  think  they  believe  that  it  is  well 
that  it  should  stretch  out  its  arms  of  mercy  to  the  poor  and  the 
neglected,  and  that  if  should  call  the  little  children  to  its  heart. 
I  think  they  believe  it  is  well  that  the  marriage  tie  should  have 
the  sanctions  of  religion,  and  well  that  the  minister  of  the  gospel 
should  stand  with  authority  by  the  bed  of  the  dying,  and  at  the 
bier  of  the  dead,  and  utter  there  the  only  words  that  can  bring 
consolation    and    hope.       I    believe    that    to-day   our    English- 
speaking  race,  which  is  on  tiptoe  to  catch  the  changes  and  vari- 
ations that  have  been  made  in  the  New  Testament  in  the  recent 


120  MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES. 

emendations  of  the  scholars  of  Christendom,  who  are  v/aiting  and 
watching,  I  say,  to  see  what  changes  have  been  made  in  tliat 
sacred  volume,  regard  the  church  as  an  element  of  preservation, 
of  safety,  and  of  succor  to  a  far  greater  degree  than  in  the  pre- 
cincts of  ecclesiastical  bodies,  or  in  our  church  organizations,  we 
are  willing  to  admit  to  be  the  fact.  I  think  the  proof  of  that 
you  will  find  to  be  manifest  if  you  will  look  into  it.  I  have 
been  impressed  to-night  with  the  influence  which  such  a  gather- 
ing as  this,  for  such  a  purpose  as  this,  upon  such  a  record  as  will 
be  made  up  here  to-night,  ought  to  have  upon  the  community 
around  you. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  thank  you  for  the  privilege  you  have  given  me 
of  speaking  in  this  presence  to-night.  I  know  that  while  language 
is  very  inadequate  at  times  to  express  the  feelings  which  a  speaker 
desires  to  utter  you  will  accept  the  testimony  I  have  given  as  a 
simple  expression  of  a  friendship  which  began  at  a  past  day,  and 
which  no  divergence  of  professional  pursuits  and  no  lapse  of  time 
have  been  able  to  disturb. 

My  friends,  as  the  chairman  has  said,  I  have  met  your  pastor 
from  year  to  year  except  when  unavoidable  circumstances  prevented ; 
and  while  college  friendships  are  often  strong  and  permanent,  I 
doubt  whether  any  stronger  or  more  permanent  have  survived  than 
those  which  have  existed  between  the  members  of  the  class  to  which 
he  and  I  belonged.  For  thirty -seven  years  we  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  meeting  together  yearly  and  exchanging  our  congratula- 
tions, and  in  that  way, — although  only  once  during  the  whole  time 
ha^'e  I  heard  your  pastor  preach  here,  we  have  kept  our  early 
friendship  unbroken  and  unmarred.  And  I  am  sure  his  devotion 
to  his  church,  his  devotion  to  the  sacred  calling  to  which  he  has 
committed  himself,  and  in  which  he  has  attained  such  high  dis- 
tinction, will  be  unremitting.  According  to  the  story  told  by  the 
last  speaker  (Dr.  Henry),  your  pastor's  faith  in  a  watch  depends 
on  its  works ;  you  need  not  fear  to  apply  the  practical  test  he  has 
thus  given  to  himself  in  every  sphere  of  duty  and  service.  I  be- 
lieve that  nowhere  will  be  found  one  who  fulfils  in  a  higher  degree 
that  spirit  of  devotion  which  should  characterize  not  only  its  min- 
istry but  its  members,  to  a  church  like  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  name  of  George  Herbert  is  dear  to  all  of  us  as  that  of  the 
church  poet  of  England,  but  it  was  reserved  for  a  New  England 


MONDAY   EVENING    EXERCISES.  121 

divine,  of  greater  repute,  perhaps,  as  a  theologian  than  as  a  poet, 
in  simpler  strains  than  those  of  Herbert,  but  in  lines  familiar  and 
dear  to  all  of  us,  to  express  that  spirit  of  loyalty  and  devotion : 

"  I  love  Tliy  kingdom,  Lord, 
The  house  of  Thy  abode, 
The  churcli  our  Blessed  Redeemer  saved 
With  His  own  precious  blood. 

"  For  her  my  tears  shall  fall. 
For  her  my  prayers  ascend  ; 
To  her  my  cares  and  toils  be  given, 
Till  care  and  toil  shall  end." 

This  is  the  spirit  that  seems  to  breathe  through  this  assembly 
to-night.  I  see  it  in  the  glad  faces  of  your  children.  I  know  that 
its  lights  of  memory  and  hope  play  upon  the  experiences  of  those 
who  best  know  the  history  of  this  church,  of  those  who  are  best 
acquainted  with  all  it  has  gone  through  in  these  twenty-five  years 
and  of  those  who  look  forward  with  the  most  tender  interest  to 
its  future;  and  I  can  only  join  in  the  hopes,  that  have  been  ex- 
pressed here  to-night,  that  its  future  may  be  bright  and  joyous  as 
the  past  has  been,  and,  above  all,  that  it  may  always  retain  that 
divine  likeness  which  has  the  promise  of  this  world  and  of  that 
which  is  to  come. 

The  Chairman  :  We  expect  now  to  have  a  greeting  from  the 
grand  old  church  of  John  Wesley,  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  in  the  person  of  Rev.  O.  H.  Tiffany,  re])resenting  a  de- 
nomination which  has  the  reputation  "of  building  a  church  every 
day. 

Dr.  Tiffany  responded : 

Address  by  Rev.  O.  H.  Tiffany,  D.D.,  of  Arch  Street 
M.  E.  Church. 

It  is  ray  great  pleasure,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  participate  in  these 
services,  and  I  desire  to  express  my  thanks  to  the  committee  for 
the  privilege  of  presenting  in  person  my  hearty  congratulations 
to  both  church  and  pastor.  The  occasion  is  one  to  which,  as  a 
Methodist,  I  am  unaccustomed  ;  for  by  reason  of  the  peculiar  polity 
of  our  church  it  is  not  given  to  any  one  of  us  ever  to  celebrate  a 


122  MONDAY   EVEXIXG   EXERCISES. 

silver  anniv^ersary  of  pliglited  pastoral  vows.  But  it  is  given 
to  us  to  have  hearts  large  enough  to  rejoice  with  those  who  do 
rejoice  under  such  realizations.  It  is  to  me  a  great  satisfaction  to 
be  able  in  this  presence  to  know,  and  to  express  the  knowledge, 
that  the  recognition,  in  kindness  and  in  fraternal  expression,  of 
Christian  brotherhood  is  reciprocated  wherever  it  is  made  manifest 
ill  the  church  of  the  present  day.  While  it  is  specially  delightful 
to  you  all  to  review  the  successes  which  have  marked  the  past  five 
and  twenty  years  in  your  experience,  it  will  also  be  exceedingly 
wise  if  we  shall  take  advantage  of  the  occasion  to  recognize  the  ad- 
vancing catholicity  of  the  Avhole  Christian  world, — which  on  the 
occasion  of  a  local  celebration  like  this  sends  greeting  to  its 
friends, — that  the  world  as  it  looks  on  may  say,  "  Behold  how 
good  and  how  pleasant  a  thing  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together 
in  unity." 

But  if  I  am  not  much  mistaken,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  not  the  first 
Methodist  who  has  had  to  do  with  the  history  of  this  West  Spruce 
Street  Presbyterian  Church,  for  as  I  heard  you  allude  so  familiarly 
to  Adam  Clarke,  our  first  great  commentator,  and  invite  these 
people  to  your  love-feast  and  speak  of  the  class-meetings  which 
your  pastor  had  enjoyed  in  all  these  years,  I  said  to  myself, 
"  Methodism  has  had  something  to  do  with  this  Presbyterian 
church  and  with  this  chairman,  for  his  speech  bewrayeth  him." 

I  am  glad  to  be  here  to-night  and  to  assert  that  however  differ- 
ently our  creeds  may  be  ])h  rased,  and  however  differently  the 
forms  in  which  we  worship  God  may  seem  to  those  who  only  look 
upon  and  observe  them,  I  am  a  brother  in  Christ  with  the  dear  good 
man  whose  life  and  influence  have  wrought  such  good  among  you 
all.  As  a  brother  in  Christ  I  can  say  to  him,  out  of  my  heart  to- 
night, "  God-speed,"  and  I  can  say  to  you,  his  flock,  "  The  Lord 
God  of  your  fathers  make  you  a  thousand  times  so  many  more  as 
ye  are,  and  bless  you  as  He  has  promised."  I  can  do  this  because, 
underneath  all  these  differentials  of  creed  and  of  form,  there  is  in 
every  Christian  heart  an  integral  binding  principle  of  life.  The 
world  does  not  see  this ;  the  world  fails  to  discover  it,  and  so  the 
world  accounts  mere  separation  as  antagonism,  for  it  does  not  dis- 
tin*ruish  between  the  eternal  and  universal  church  and  that  tem- 
porary  denomination  or  sect  to  which  you  and  I  and  all  of  us 
belong.     But  wc  who  have  been  touched  by  the  spirit  of  Christ 


MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES.  123 

and  who  have  been  permitted  to  look  upon  events  with  Chris- 
tian thonghtfulness,  we  understand  well  the  infinite  dignity  of 
the  Rock  of  Ages,  and  the  absolute  littleness  of  the  temporary 
homes  we  build  against  its  giant  breast,  and  we  know  full  well 
there  is  place  and  room  enough  for  us  all.  These  separate  churches, 
after  all,  what  are  they  but  divisions  of  God's  militant  hosts?  We 
are  all  enlisted  under  one  banner.  We  all  obey  the  voice  and  the 
command  of  the  one  Captain.  We  all  exult  in  each  other's  success. 
We  shall  all  shout  in  the  final  triumph  and  shall  all  join  in  singing 
unto  Him  who  has  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  His 
own  blood.  "  Unto  Him  be  glory  and  honor  and  domination  and 
power  forever;"  for  we  all  exjject  to  join  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  first-born  in  Heaven. 

The  Chairman :  We  expected  to  see  the  Baptist  Church 
represented  to-night  by  Dr.  Henson,  but  an  unavoidable  engage- 
ment has  prevented  him  from  coming.  His  letter  of  regret  will 
now  be  read  to  you  by  R.  Dale  Benson. 

Colonel  R.  Dale  Benson  complied  with  the  call  upon  him  as 
follows : 

Mr.  Chairman,  the  letter  receiv^ed  from  Dr.  Henson  is  addressed 
to  the  Chairman  of  the  Sub-Committee  on  Speakers,  and  reads  as 
follows : 

Letter  from  Rev.  P.  S.  Henson,  D.D.,  of  the  Memorial 
Baptist  Church. 

Philadelphia,  April  4th,  1881. 

My  dear  Brother:  I  grieve  exceedingly  that  imperative  business  requires 
nie  to  leave  the  city  to-day,  so  that  I  shall  be  deprived  of  the  greatly  coveted 
privilege  of  participating  in  the  high  festivities  of  your  "  Quarter-century 
Anniversary." 

In  these  restless,  changeful  days  a  quarter-century  pastorate  is  alike  phenom- 
enal and  beautiful.  It  is  a  fact  more  eloquent  than  any  eulogy  that  could  be 
framed  in  words.  It  is  a  demonstration  that  he  who  laid  tiie  foundations  of  the 
West  Spruce  Street  Presbyterian  Church  was  a  wise  master-builder,  and  wrought 
into  the  structure  not  straw,  and  wood,  and  hay,  and  stubble,  but  gold,  and  silver, 
and  precious  stones.    It  is  a  beautiful  illustj-ation  of  the  "survival  of  the  fittest." 

During  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  the  country  has  been  swept  by  the  wildest 
sensationalism,  and  in  deference  to  the  demands  of  "advanced  thought,"  not  a 
few  of  our  supposed-to-be  foremost  men  liave  thought  it  necessary  to  forsake  the 
simplicity  that  is  in  Christ  .Jesus,  and  to  preach  another  gospel,  which  is  yet  not 
another.  The  pastor  of  the  West  Spruce  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  unmoved 
by  the  clamor  for  novelties,  and  relying  upon  the  plain  Word  of  God  and  the 


124  MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES. 

mi^litv  power  of  the  Spirit  of  Gor],  has  swerved  not  a  hair's  hreadtli  from  the 
"old  paths,"  and  now,  as  a  consequence,  after  a  quarter  century  of  pastoral 
experience,  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  rejoicing  people  in  the  fulness  of  unwasted 
strength,  and  of  undecayed  popularity. 

Let  the  rising  ministry  lay  to  heart  the  lesson  which  this  anniversary  teaches. 
Having  been  myself  a  pastor  in  Philadelphia  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and 
dm-ing  this  score  of  years  having  been  more  or  less  intimately  associated  with 
the  happy  groom  of  this  silver  wedding,  I  am  not  surprised  at  the  strength  of  his 
hold  upon  the  confidence  and  aflfections  of  his  people. 

May  the  Lord  long  spare  him  and  give  to  the  cluirches  many  more  like  him. 

Fraternally,  yours, 

P.  S.  Henson, 
Pastor  Memorial  Baptist  Church. 

The  Chairman  :  I  would  state  to  the  meeting  that  the  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia,  at  its  session  held  to-day,  upon  receiving  an 
invitation  from  the  committee  of  this  church  to  be  present  on  this 
occasion,  appointed  a  delegation  to  extend  to  us  their  congratu- 
lations. That  delegation  is  now  present,  and  will  be  represented 
by  Rev.  R.  M.  Patterson.  The  time,  therefore,  which  would  have 
been  allotted  to  Dr.  Henson,  if  he  had  been  present,  will  now  be 
given  to  Dr.  Patterson. 

Dr.  Patterson  responded  as  follows : 

Greeting  from  the   Presbytery  of  Philadelphia — Ad- 
dress BY  Pev.  Pt.  M.  Patterson,  D.D. 

3Ir.  Chairman:  My  words  shall  be  specially  few  because  it  is 
late  and  I  am  not  on  the  printed  programme.  I  am  the  bearer  of 
a  missive  from  your  Presbytery  to  the  church. 

The  Presbytery,  at  its  Quarterly  Meeting  this  afternoon,  re- 
ceived an  invitation  from  the  committee  in  charge  of  these  exer- 
cises to  be  present  to-night ;  and,  upon  the  announcement  of  its 
receipt,  adopted  a  minute,  which  I  will  read.  The  minute  is  as 
follows : 

"  The  Presbytery  has,  with  peculiar  gratification,  received  and 
entered  upon  its  records  the  invitation  of  the  West  Spruce  Street 
Church  to  attend  the  interesting  services  which  are  to  be  held  this 
evening  in  commemoration  of  the  organization  of  that  church 
twenty-five  years  ago.  Under  a  standing  rule  a  popular  meeting 
with  the  congregation  of  the  Hope  Chapel  was  arranged  for  before  it 
was  known  that  these  services  were  to  be  held.  As,  therefore,  it 
will  not  be  possible  for  the  Presbytery  to  accept  the  invitation  in 


MONDAY   EVENING   EXERCISES.  125 

a  body,  a  committee  of  three  members  is  hereby  appointed  to  con- 
vey to  the  West  Spruce  Street  congregation  an  expression  of  the 
deep  pleasure  with  which  the  Presbytery  witnesses  the  prosperous 
completion  of  the  first  quarter  of  a  century's  existence  of  that 
church  under  the  unbroken  ministrations  of  their  first  pastor, — a 
brother  greatly  beloved  ;  and  an  assurance  of  its  earnest  prayer  tliat 
the  tie  between  pastor  and  people  may  be  severed  only  by  a  far- 
distant  death,  and  that  their  union  may  continue  to  be  one  of 
abundant  and  ever-growing  usefulness  and  joy." 

In  pursuance  of  that  minute,  I  was  associated  with  the  Rev. 
Robert  Adair  and  Samuel  C  Perkins,  Esq.,  as  the  committee  to 
represent  the  Presbytery  here  to-night.     • 

I  will  only  say  to  you,  Dr.  Breed,  in  the  name  of  your  Presby- 
tery, that  that  body  has,  with  the  most  intense  satisfaction,  fol- 
lowed this  church.  This  is  one  of  its  children.  The  parent  is 
proud  of  the  child.  And  I  will  say  to  you,  members  of  this 
church,  in  the  name  of  your  Presbytery,  that  no  man  on  our  roll 
is  more  deeply  beloved  than  is  your  ])astor,  nor  is  there  one  more 
highly  esteemed  or  more  trusted  by  h.is  brethren  in  the  ministry. 
We  love  him;  we  admire  him  ;  we  have  found  him  one  of  the 
most  faithful  of  Presbyters  in  every  way.  He  has  been  one  of  our 
hard-working  ministers ;  and  very  frequently  he  has  represented 
the  Presbytery  in  the  General  Assembly — always  with  credit  to 
himself  and  to  the  honor  of  the  Presbytery. 

I  am  specially  happy  to  be  able  to  say  to  you  that  at  its 
meeting  this  afternoon  Presbytery  again  appointed  him  the  first 
of  its  three  representatives  to  the  General  Assembly,  which  meets 
next  month  in  Buffalo.  We  thought  this  a  very  pleasant  tribute 
to  pay  to  him  just  at  this  time.  One  who  for  twenty-five  years 
has  been  the  pastor  of  one  of  its  most  prosperous  churches  will 
be  a  worthy  representative  of  the  body  in  the  General  Assembly. 

I  will  only  add  that  our  hope  is  that  the  future  will  be  like 
the  past — that  the  years  to  come  will  be  like  the  years  that  have 
gone.  I  saw  it  stated  recently  that  an  old  minister  gave,  as 
the  reason  for  never  having  left  his  church,  that  when  he  felt 
out  of  humor  with  the  people,  the  people  would  not  let  him  go ; 
and  that  when  the  people  felt  out  of  iiumor  with  him  he  would  not 
go.  1  know.  Dr.  Breed,  that  you  have  never  felt  out  of  humor 
with  this  people ;   I  know  that  you,  my  friends,  will  tell  us  you 


126  MONDAY    EVENING    EXERCISES. 

have  never  felt  out  of  humor  with  your  pastor;  we  feel  asssured 
that  such  will  continue  to  be  true  of  both  of  you.  The  Presbytery 
hopes  that  it  will  never  be  called  upon  to  dissolve  the  pastoral  re- 
lation which  it  constituted  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  as  you,  my 
good  brother,  invoked  upon  the  people,  so,  in  the  name  of  that 
Presbytery,  would  I,  upon  both  pastor  and  people  invoke,  the  old 
benediction  :  "  The  Lord  bless  you  and  keep  you ;  the  Lord  make 
His  face  shine  upon  you  and  be  gracious  unto  you ;  the  Lord  lift 
up  His  countenance  upon  you  and  give  you  peace." 
Several  voices :  "  Amen  !" 

CLOSING   EXERCISES. 

The  Chairman  :  I  am  sure  you  will  all  join  me  in  an  expression 
of  thanks  to  these  brethren  who  have  given  us  their  greetings  to- 
night in  such  affectionate  and  eloquent  terms. 

These  exercises  are  drawing  to  a  close,  and  we  will  now  join  the 
choir  in  singing  two  verses  of  the  well-known  hymn,  as  follows: 

Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 

Our  hearts  in  Christian  love  ; 
The  fellowship  of  kindred  minds 

Is  like  to  that  above. 

When  we  asunder  part, 

It  gives  US  inward  pain  ; 
But  we  shall  still  be  joined  in  heart, 

And  hope  to  meet  again. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  hymn,  the  Doxology,  sung  by  choir 
and  audience,  ended  the  formal  services: 

Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow ; 
Praise  Him,  all  creatures  here  below ; 
Praise  Him  above,  ye  heavenly  host ; 
t  Praise  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 

Reception  by  the  Pastor. 

The  regular  order  of  exercises  was  followed  by  a  reception  by 
the  pastor,  during  which  all  the  audience  improved  the  opportu- 
tunity  afforded  them  to  clasp  the  hand  of  the  honored  guest  of  the 
evening,  and  personally  to  assure  him  of  their  appreciation  of  and 
affection  for  him. 


To  THE  Session  and  Members  of  the  West  Spruce  Street 
Presbyterian  Church,  Ppiiladelphia  : 

Dear  Brethren:  ^Ye  have  received  your  kind  and  welcome 
letter,  announcing  to  us  the  fact  that  you  purpose  celebrating  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  your  church's  organization  by  special 
services,  to  which  you  invite  our  congregation.  We  thank  you  cor- 
dially for  the  invitation,  and  we  wish  that  we  might  close  our 
house  of  worship  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  April  and  listen 
with  you  to  the  historical  discourse,  then  to  be  delivered  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Breed.  But,  though  circumstances  prevent  this,  our 
pastor  will  have  great  pleasure  in  announcing  on  next  Sunday  the 
fact  that  such  a  discourse  will  be  delivered,  and  doubtless  many  of 
our  congregation  will  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  of  lis- 
tening to  the  narrative  of  the  career  of  a  sister  church,  in  which 
the  Tenth  Church  must  always  be  profoundly  interested.  We 
shall  have  great  pleasure  in  being  present  at  the  other  services. 

Meanwhile,  in  our  own  behalf,  and  in  behalf  of  our  congrega- 
tion, we  give  thanks  to  God  for  the  special  favor  which  he  has 
shown  to  you  as  a  church,  and  for  the  large  opportunities  for  use- 
fulness which  the  present  and  the  future  open  to  you.  And  we 
pray  that  as  you  have  begun  so  the  Lord  will  make  you  abound, 
more  and  more. 

Especially  do  we  rejoice  with  you  in  the  fact  that  you  have  still 
with  you  your  first  pastor,  as  laborious  and  as  fluthful  as  at  the 
beginning  of  his  ministry  in  Philadelphia,  deservedly  enjoying,  in 
a  larger  measure  than  ever  before,  the  affection  and  respect  of  the 
church  of  Christ,  and  the  confidence  of  the  city  in  which  we  dwell. 
We  unite  with  you  in  the  fervent  prayer  that  he  may  be  with  you 
for  many  years,  and  that  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  will  con- 
tinue to  crown  his  labors  with  the  Divine  blessing. 

AVishing  you  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  we  are,  dear  brethren, 
Faithfully  yours. 
The  Session  of  the  Tenth  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Philadelphia,  by  John  De  Witt,  Moderator. 

Philadelphia,  24tli  March,  188L 


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